With three real estate
exhibitions lined up across the first month of 2016, January offers a lot of
promise for real estate development and growth in Mumbai and the Mumbai
Metropolitan Region (MMR). Regardless of how good the number of walk-ins are at
the real estate expos – (i) BANM, (ii) MCHI-CREDAI Thane and (iii) MCHI-CREDAI
Kalyan – Dombivali, the one aspect which will have a positive impact on
residential real estate across Mumbai and the MMR has to do with commercial
real estate.
In a trend that has been
growing across 2015, across Mumbai and the MMR, “consolidation” and
“relocation” have been the buzz words when it comes to commercial real estate.
Companies which had more than one office, housed in different locations, are
now looking at consolidating the same into one campus. Since existing work
spaces do not offer availability of large spaces to house such consolidated
spaces, the only solution is to relocate. In this quest for the ideal location
to consolidate and relocate, Thane seems to have become the present-day
preferred choice for such transactions, with Ghodbunder Road (GB Road) and
Wagle Estate leading the ‘preferred list’. Effectively, this has resulted in
increased demand for homes in Thane – and this is just the beginning. The
spill-over effect will be felt in Kalyan – Dombivali as also in Navi Mumbai,
but the present-day ‘centre of action’ remains Thane.
This movement in commercial
real estate across Mumbai and the MMR is also in sync with the positive
sentiments in Indian commercial real estate, reflected by similar trends across
India: with increase in demand for commercial real estate pointing to signs of
visible recovery over 2015, going into a even better 2016.
The ‘Sentiment Index’ from
Knight Frank India, for July to September 2015, shows the supply side
stakeholders as being ‘reasonably optimistic’ about the office spaces market,
there is an expectation that leasing volumes will improve at the back of
limited supply.
What makes Thane important in
present-day for corporate relocation? The location is important to Mumbai and
the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It is an ideal place for residential real
estate and an ideal location for office spaces. This aspect dove-tails
perfectly with the increased demand for residential real estate in Thane. This
‘being in sync’ aspect of corporate moving into Thane and residential real
estate registering increase in enquiries and serious site visits have proved to
be the latest trend in real estate. The demand for homes in Thane is being
driven by a work-force that is re-settling in Thane, be they from work-spaces
in BFSI or IT & ITeS sectors.
Thane has emerged as one of
key office markets in Mumbai with various companies setting up or moving their
operations there. Various infrastructure developments over the last few years
have been responsible for the growth of Thane as a prominent business hub, and
within Thane, Ghodbunder Road is by far, the mixed-use realty hot-spot in a
win-win situation, being the linkage that offers excellent connectivity,
linking Mumbai’s central and western express highways. Ghodbunder Road also
links Thane to commercial cities like Pune, Nashik, Vapi, Surat and beyond. In
terms of suburban travel, for work-force of companies which relocate to Thane,
suburban train connectivity to Mumbai CST, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Karjat-Kasara is
a given. Ghodbunder Road’s western end connects through Mira Road and Bhayandar
stations to the Western Railway’s suburban network. Effectively, the workforce
of any corporate, residing in the MMR, will have smooth and easy access to
Thane.
Thane offers the
integrated townships, which as a model, has been a success. Thane’s real
estate will witness development including residential and commercial realty
with social infrastructure in sync with the mixed-use development. It offers
work spaces as also residential real estate. For the corporate entities who set
up work spaces here as also the families which make Thane ‘home’, this mixed-use,
integrated township projects offer all major lifestyle amenities and facilities,
including academics, healthcare, retail and entertainment facilities.
As the current-day ideal
location to consolidate and relocate, Thane seems to have become the preferred
choice. The future growth potential, however, points to Navi Mumbai’s Panvel
region.
Panvel has the advantage of
being located between two IT and ITeS hubs, Mumbai and Pune, which makes it the
future ‘corporate relocation and consolidation’ location in the MMR. Panvel has
the potential to become the ‘next big happening location’ in MMR. It is
positioned ‘just right’, when one looks at not just commercial as also a
residential real estate destination. It offers the potential of planned
connectivity linkages, which include the Sewree Nhava trans harbour link; the
railway passenger terminus at Panvel station; starting of passenger traffic on
the Karjat – Panvel section of the Central Railway as also the Navi Mumbai
international airport, these make Panvel, as part of the Navi
Mumbai region, a ‘future perfect’ real estate destination.
In the Navi Mumbai region,
Panvel seems to be the ideal, the future for corporate relocation and
consolidation across the MMR. The planned work space options in Navi Mumbai’s
Panvel region will be best suited to the new age Indian, one who has a global
perspective and aspires to work and live a truly global life in a real estate
location with fantastic growth potential. Gardens, play areas, entertainment
clusters which will include schools, food and beverage options, convenience
stores and health centres will offer in Panvel, within the Navi Mumbai region,
a stress-busting environment for those who will, in the near future, work and
reside in this region. Present-day, corporate relocations and consolidation of
different office spaces is a growing trend within the MMR, with ‘advantage
Thane’ while the near future would seems to point towards Panvel in the Navi
Mumbai region all set to be ‘the relocation and consolidation space of the
future’.
