As this website forecast in 2004, real estate growth in the South Western sector of Chennai is poised for a major growth, as the land values are still better than the IT corridor coming up in the South and there is still land available for promotion of residential enclaves.
The latest indicator to this trend is the announcement by the Sahara group that they will promote a major residential township off the Poonamalee Bypass, on the road to Avadi from Poonamalee.
As real estate watchers in Chennai know, even without such a major township project being announced, land values in and around the Porur-Poonamalee sector, particularly along the Mount-Poonamalee Road have risen 30 to 50 per cent over the last 12 months. The reasonably firm expectation that Nokia (Picture below shows its World Corporate Offices in Finland) will be putting up its factory to manufacture handsets in Sriperumbudur has made the area encompassed by the Mount-Poonamalee Road and the Poonamalee by-pass more important for quality housing development.
The focus on development is natural for two reasons: it is within commuting distance of the major industrial developments between Poonamalee and Sriperumbudur, such as Hyundai's car factory and the proposed Nokia plant. So why cannot cheaper housing come up closer to the industrial units? In the medium term, factors that affect quality housing coming up in this area are lack of support infrastructure such as schools, liberal arts and science colleges for day attendees and equally important, medical facilities of acceptable standards.
These facilities are all located closer to Poonamalee and the Mount-Poonamalee sector is providing the land capacity required for expansion of housing. Sahara's proposed development, (even if it is ultimately a less-hyped model with none of the outlandish frills announced by the group) will create fresh middle-class demand for schools and other facilities in a four-six km radius from their site.
One medical facility of nationally acknowledged standard that already exists is the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, a Deemed University, which is a medical college with a teaching hospital attached. This means availability of critical care access in this area, which is close to all the upcoming areas including the proposed Sahara development.
Jeeva Nagar becomes more attractive
Land prices in the Ayyappanthangal area, which is next to SRMC, have risen sharply over the past few years and more so in the past 24 months. Another new development that came up on 108 plots West of Ayyappanthangal is Jeeva Nagar, next to AUDCO Nagar in Kattupakkam. If availability of power connections is any indicator for rapid growth of housing, Jeeva Nagar already has power lines drawn into this planned development that had none before and three houses in the newly created CMDA layout in the first year (the plots in the first phase were sold out in a record time, nearly 60 per cent on the first day of being advertised.)
Southern Shelters has promoted a layout opposite Jeeva and AUDCO Nagars. Sterling group has now started a new development next to it, promising further agglomeration of a reasonable number of residential units and creating a critical mass of middle class demand for services.
While full-fledged banking facilities are available at Porur and Poonamalee (one of these is closer depending on where one invests in the residential developments) there is 24x7 ATM access within the Sri Ramachandra Medical College.Unlike many of the more prominent developments being advertised in the media on the GST Road and the IT corridor, those on the Mount-Poonamalee Road are closer to an arterial road that is served by Metropolitan buses with high frequency, touching Ayyappanthangal and Poonamalee. The Ayyappanthangal bus terminus has frequent connections to many parts of Chennai, including the financial and shopping areas.
Finally, if the land development in the Porur-Poonamalee segment as well as the Avadi-Poonamalee Road (where Sahara says it will locate its township) is kept within sustainable limits, the groundwater availability can be maintained round the year. This is an important variation with the IT corridor, where existing water resources are scarce and the development spearheaded by the AIADMK Government hopes to rely on energy-intensive production of water through Reverse Osmosis or expensive pipeline projects. The lopsided development along the IT corridor is aggravated by the destruction of wetland that facilitates water percolation, most notably Pallikaranai. The future for the IT corridor is therefore one that could mean expensive solutions for water. Certainly not the average middle-class vision of a good quality of life.