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Modern residential projects to the south of the city and along the coastline are offering a novel lifestyle to Chennai.
As the city’s heartland bulges at the seams, residential development is moving to the periphery. The Eastern and South-Eastern fringes along the Old Mahabalipuram Road and the East Coast Road are preferred options.
In tow are the new breed of brand-conscious developers who are offering not just a home, but an entire lifestyle. Residential spaces packed with swanky lifestyle options such as recreational facilities, abundant parking space, extensive landscaping and trendy architectural designs are becoming the typical contemporary “givens”.
The Chennai realty market is driven by a healthy mix of IT / ITES, manufacturing and logistics. The investor participation is long-term in nature, thereby mitigating a speculative market scenario.
North Chennai is dotted with industries, workshops and port related industries. The self-employed and the public sector employees drive business in the region.
These micromarkets are marked by the presence of smaller residential projects. These projects are expected to sustain absorption levels.
The Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) or Rajiv Gandhi Salai, spanning over 26 km, beginning at Madhya Kailash Temple junction on Sardar Patel road, is an IT / ITES corridor.
The areas up to Sholinganallur on OMR, including Kottivakkam, Perungudi and Thoraipakkam, continue to show buyer interest due to their proximity to the city and the presence of operating commercial spaces. These areas have smaller projects and are constrained by issues relating to approach roads and storm water drains. The prices to hold their own in this belt. The setting up of TIDEL Park on OMR in 2000 changed the landscape of the stretch forever, paving the way for the development of the IT corridor, as we know it, today. This development, naturally, led to the creation of a premium residential housing market along the belt. OMR may have seemed like a distant suburb a few years ago, but now, it is very much, a part of the city. Up to Siruseri it is essentially an extension of the city, and should not be considered a suburb anymore.
The Navalur, Egattur belt has the presence of projects in the premium segment.
Infrastructure and lifestyle amenities with schools , hotels & health care and entertainment facilities cater to the social needs. This area is witnessing robust real estate activity by prominent builders. Projects are in the price band of Rs 3750 per sq. ft. and upwards depending on the location, specification and builder.
Siruseri houses the largest IT Park in Asia, State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) IT Park. It is spread over 1000 acres and houses prominent IT companies like Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Polaris and Hexaware Technologies, to name a few. Fresh supply of residential projects is expected in the coming months.
The belt between Padur and Kelambakkam is dotted with projects by prominent builders. But absorption could moderate over the next 7-8 months, due to supply in surrounding catchments, which are relatively closer to the city.
The Velachery - Tambaram road continues to attract home buyers due to its connectivity to both OMR and GST (Grand Southern Trunk) roads. Rates along Medavakkkam and Pallikarnai are expected to firm up due to demand driven by location attractiveness.
The trend is towards high-rise or gated colonies, 24-hour power back-up and recreational facilities. High-rise building allows you to unwind after a day’s work and enjoy the landscape view with clean and healthy environment.
Today developers are bringing in the expertise of world renowned design consultants and architects such as SRSSA, Meinhardt (Singapore) for Civil, Structure & MEP; IBA (New York) for facade; Sitetectonix (Singapore) for Landscape; Windtech (Australia) for Wind tunnel engineering, and so on.
Housing in Chennai is becoming more institutionalised with large business houses setting up distinct and separate vehicles for real estate. Real estate developers are also looking at image-building and brand recall. The whole act is increasingly getting more professional and organised.
(The author is the Managing Director of Archean Design & Development)
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