Posted on 8th December, 2013 by Admin

The northern belt mainly consists of the micromarkets Hebbal, Yelahanka, Devanahalli and Bellary Road and comprises the northern realty hub of the city. Known for its residential catchments, good social infrastructure and roads, the northern part of the city is well-connected and boasts of easy accessibility and proximity to the international airport.

The infrastructure works well for the north of the city and it is well connected with the Outer Ring Road (ORR), elevated signal-free corridor to the airport and six-lane expressway.

The residential market here is going strong. This has created a demand for commercial spaces in the vicinity. The trend in commercial leasing activity has been steady this year. “The supply of commercial spaces is growing fast in the third quarter. Rent expectations are holding up. The capital values are steady,” says Simon Rubinsohn, Chief Economist, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Commenting on the trend, Sachin Sandhir, Managing Director, RICS South Asia says, “From the occupier’s point of view, commercial spaces often involve more capital. Problems such as lower sales, cash flow crunch, expensive loans, high cost of labour and inflation have made occupiers cautious about their investments”. However, the north of the city, owing to its good infrastructure, schools, hospitals, malls and connectivity, has areas designated for an aerospace, IT and BT special economic zone. Though work on this has not yet progressed, anticipating the demand, developers have bought large parcels of land for development. This zone will create job opportunities and those employed here in the future would want to stay within a 5-6 km radius.

“North Bangalore definitely has the potential to become an IT/ITeS growth corridor comprising huge land parcels held by prominent developers and this will provide the platform for huge facilities to come up,” says Juggy Marwaha, Managing Director – South, Jones Lang LaSalle India. According to a JLL survey, there are an estimated 4,500 units for budget housing, 9,000 units in the mid segment housing and around 7,300 units in the highend housing segment in the residential catchment area in this region.

Buoyed by the residential market growth, commercial realty activity is picking up in the zone.

“The commercial space leasing activity in the north is concentrated around a tech park along the ORR,” says Naveen Nandwani, Director, South India, Cushman and Wakefield. “However, this will change in 2014, when an estimated two million sqft of leasing space will be available for top-end occupiers,” adds Naveen.

According to him, the main reason for the north of the city to become a hub for commercial leasing activity is the availability of residential units in the catchment areas. Accessibility to these residential catchment areas has led to many large corporations setting up facilities to enable their employees to commute in shorter time periods and get a better quality of life. “The Nagawara junction in particular, on the ORR has many housing options and is a good catchment for residential units, when commercial activity picks up here,” adds Naveen.

Source: Times Property, The Times of India, Bangalore