Chennai’s growing urban landscape came out with all its many possibilities at the Expanding Metropolis Property Show organised by the Bank of Baroda and The New Indian Express, that began in the city on Saturday.
The show which focused on real estate properties in Chennai’s expanding suburbs saw developers coming up with a lot of options in every category of housing. Gated colonies seemed to trend at the property show. “Slow Down and Cherish Every Moment, Walk to Work, Spend More Time With Family, Build the House You Always Dreamt of’, ran the advertisement of one of the real estate developers.
But this slogan seemed to be the selling point for all the dealers, with an expanding number of customers looking at affordable homes but without the hassles of serpentine road blocks and hours on polluted roads.
Taking the cue from its customers, builders too seemed to have explored every possibility to make gated colonies the place to be. Many a gated colony showcased at the property show boasted of amenities far beyond the conventional swimming pool-gym-park combination.
Schools, hospitals, multiplexes and even business hotels are now on offer at the various properties. Some of the other popular add-ons in the segment include children’s tuition centre, children’s art school, senior citizens’ club, women’s lounge, shopping mall, gaming centres, golf parks, evening bazaar, separate beauty parlours for men and women, crèche etc.
Meanwhile, for those who are looking at independent houses too there was no dearth of choice. Apart from villas in gated colonies, an upcoming model was the ‘row houses’ concept, already popular in European countries. These properties are wall to wall attached houses thereby bringing down on the land requirement. “From an investment perspective, the row houses have an advantage since the land requirement is less than a villa but unlike an apartment, the land is owned by you,” said a Casa Grande official who is into the business.
Independent plots within gated colonies or common developed sites too are a huge draw with a large number of property developers at the show focusing on the segment. “Investing on a plot in a suburban area makes a lot of sense than often on an apartment in the city, owing to the land rates. Moroever, you have the advantage of being able to do whatever you want with the plot,” said S Sathyan, assistant sales manager with the Abi Group.
In order to provide this flexibility, some of the real estate developers have come up with gated colonies with options, for apartments, independent villas and plots, all within the same gated colony. The colonies are in Sriperumbudur, Mahabalipuram, Pallikaranai, Chengelpettu, Mahabalipuram, Koyembedu, Arumbakkam, Maraimalai Nagar etc. The show will go on till Sunday.