Track2Realty Exclusive: If SMEs presence is any indication of the scope of commercial property in the given region, Delhi-NCR’s east coast can easily claim to be a vibrant market for the commercial property. However, the tag of an affordable zone has till very recently been the reason why big ticket commercial investment did not fell into Ghaziabad, stretch of NH 24 or even Noida to a large extent.
The slowdown of the last couple of years seems to change the perception and the investors have realised the importance of realistic markets where economic activity has been steady. As a result, there are a number of commercial projects coming up on this side and the region is fast emerging as the most conducive market for commercial property.
Analysts maintain it has been challenging to beat the perception of affordable market but what has changed the outlook in favour of the region to a large extent is infrastructure. At a time when the entire Delhi-NCR region in general and South Delhi & Gurgaon in particular is crumbling under the load of infrastructure, the eastern coast of the region is showing how planned development can be sustainable and holistic.
Today, the multinational corporations and other big-ticket investors are re-thinking about their next move of expansion in those saturated markets. It seems there is a visible perception shift in terms of spreading out to stretch along NH 24, Ghaziabad and Noida instead of getting into cluttered markets where ROI per sq feet is increasingly getting squeezed. There is better physical infrastructure in this belt, social infrastructure is also gradually shaping up and the opportunity cost is much lesser than pampered markets of Gurgaon or South Delhi.
Rahul Gaur, CMD of Brys Group agrees that there are challenges in this region and feels those challenges are also throwing huge opportunities to invest. For instance, the analysts till yesterday pointed out that Gurgaon happen to be on top of the list of investors due to its close proximity to airport. It has better public transport and roads and flyover. Of course, in all such analysis East coast in general and Noida in particular was seen as the poor cousin of Delhi-NCR. But there has been a paradigm shift in the mindset in the last few years and the investors are now weighing their opportunity coast which goes in favour of the region.
“Today most of the analysts are changing their opinion as roads and flyovers are much better in this region. Metro rail has also had its role in changing the perception. But I must tell you it is only a matter of time that there comes an international airport in the region. It can only be delayed but not denied now. Then you have Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor that touches the region with Dadri being a hub. I think it will not only catalyse the economic activity in the Eastern Coast of Delhi-NCR but instead open the floodgates of opportunities,” says Gaur.
Gaurav Gupta, General Secretary, Raj Nagar Extension maintains that in recent times the real estate market in this region has seen a huge inflow of end-users. With the increasing population, the demand for basic amenities has also increased. The malls and office towers which are currently operating in Laxmi Nagar, Kaushambi, Vaishali and Vasundhara have witnessed a huge growth in business in the recent months.
“Delhi being the centre of India and the Eastern Delhi & Ghaziabad region being the only real estate hub with projects available at reasonable level; we expect the demand for commercial properties to escalate further by the end of 2014,” says Gaurav.
Nitin Gupta, MD, Star Realcon says the market has always been alluring from investment perspective. When it comes to investing in commercial projects investors and long term users look for low-cost and connectivity quotient. East Delhi to Ghaziabad has both the merits to be considered as a perfect destination for commercial real estate hub. Looking at the market scenario, he assumes the demand for commercial property is going to rise in 2014.
“The region has already seen a boost for residential project and to cater to their basic demands, this is the right time to invest in malls and office spaces. The region definitely needs more commercial space as nowadays people prefer to stay close to workplace. Since this region has more land parcels available compared to any other part of Delhi-NCR, this can be done by the government earmarking more land for commercial spaces. One of the fundamental point people often fail to acknowledge when talking about growth potential of the city is its commercial space,” says Nitin.
Analysts believe to catalyse the economic activity you need more number of employers’ presence in these pockets. How will you ensure that? Answer lies in providing them work-life balance the way they desire. Create better social infrastructure and top-end luxury projects and that will have a chain effect on the overall economic activity in the region. So, I feel we as developers also carry lots of responsibilities and all that we look forward to is some government support to fulfil that.
The developers demand government to come forward for scaling up the commercial projects in the region, which will also catalyse the economic growth to a large extent. They demand equal attention must be given to the commercial spaces as well while planning any new zone in the region. Initially there may be few takers of commercial space, but the authorities can always plan in tandem with the developers by subsidising land or granting more FSI for the commercial space.
