Milestone in city’s growth

Milestone in city’s growth
The city is poised for growth and will see a new dimension to its property sector emerging with an increase in demand on the cards, writes B S Manu Rao


The opening of the new international airport is now just a matter of days away. The countdown has truly begun. The civil aviation ministry has announced that the existing HAL airport will be closed to commercial flights once the new Devanahalli airport opens. The new airport will see the city on the world air map.
Bangalore begins a new chapter with the commissioning of the international airport. The city's commercial development scenario will get a fillip. The property industry will see new demand from entrepreneurs, corporates and buyers looking for residential options. The service industry is slated to see an uptrend.
On the property front, the coming of the international airport will see investors looking for options in the city. Apartments in the vicinity will find takers as will commercial spaces. The airport will entail a host of services from clearing and forwarding to catering. This will mean an uptrend in demand for all those segments connected with travel and cargo.
But most significant of all, the airport will bring the city a new tag. It will make it easily accessible and a more feasible option for those looking for a base in the region. Bangalore has a large talent pool and premium education centres. Here, organisations can find high quality HR in all fields. With an international airport that brings in both manpower and material from any part of the globe, the city is beckoning corporate houses like never before.
In the growth and development of the city, this new airport is a milestone. "The civic agencies will have to plan to disperse growth in relation to availability of infrastructure and the provisions of the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). Essentially, the density of population, infrastructure and the CDP need to be harmonised", says U A Vasanth Rao, Dy Commissioner (Resources), Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
This means more land parcels will see development, leading to more options for property investors. The simple fact that more people will move into the city, with the emerging opportunities, points to more demand for property in the coming months here. This in turn will lead to new trends in property development. Rejuvenation of the commercial hubs where the new CDP - Master Plan 2015 - allows higher floor area ratios (FAR) is one trend that promises to see more spaces created in areas saturated so far. "The face of the central business district will change with developments like property consolidation", predicts Vasanth Rao. "The government will act as facilitators in property consolidation at some point in time", he says.
Property consolidation is the coming together of neighbours to amalgamate their independent neighbouring properties to put up a large development. This helps them take advantage of the increased FAR and get a higher yield from their properties. The localities where such consolidations happen will see more spaces emerging for sale and rent. This will accommodate the expected increase in population to some extent in the central districts. "We are poised for a sharp growth", says Vasanth Rao, "this sort of consolidation will see many smaller buildings being demolished to put up large ones".
It is common to see buildings in a rather early stage of their lifecycle being demolished to put up new facilities in Bangalore. Many arterial roads and localities in the central districts see buildings built relatively recently pulled down to put up more profitable commercial structures. This trend looks set to gain ground, paving the way for property investors to pick up a range of options - commercial spaces, retail spaces and apartments.