Sports cities – townships conceived and executed on a sports-centric theme and lifestyle concept – are a unique emerging real estate trend in the country. This model has yet to generate a national hold, however. Though there are a few sports cities planned in Kolkata and Pune, the trend in general seems to be catching up mostly on the Delhi NCR real estate market – particularly in Noida and Greater Noida.
In these sectors, the more notable projects based on the sports city theme would include Jaypee Greens in Greater Noida, the recently launched 180 acre township by 3C in Sector 78-79 and the 200 acre township by Logix in Sector 150, Noida.
There is more to this trend than first meets the eye, and much can be expected of it in the future. As a concept, these sports cities promise to create dynamic and vibrant communities with a focus on health-consciousness and a participative lifestyle. The recently launched projects are replete with amenities like golf courses, horse riding academies, cricket grounds, coaching academies, swimming pools and tennis and squash courts.
For the developers active in this segment, it makes a lot of sense from the real estate marketing perspective, as well. Having a theme helps in creating differentiation in a market which has been deluged with launches of residential projects recently. It can safely be said that the popularity of the sports city concept in the Delhi NCR region is logically linked with the buzz created by the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Though not always for the right reasons, the Games got unprecedented media coverage in the region. This helped in creating more awareness about sports.
The project delivery for these sport cities is more or less in line with the general market trend of 3 years. Demand for them also does not seem to exceed that for more commonplace residential projects, either. From where we stand now, the volume of residential projects on the market is certainly down from the 2010 levels. The real estate market is price sensitive and buyers are more discerning when it comes to investing in real estate.
With end-users looking for value for their money and displaying an increasing tendency to evaluate various parameters like price, project location, developer track record, available amenities, etc before investing, it remains to be seen whether sports cities will prove to have an edge over other residential formats in the near-to-mid term.
The author, Sahel Pramendra, is Managing Director – Transaction Management Services, Jones Lang LaSalle India.
