What made HoH choose Chennai and OMR for its development?
Chennai represents a fine confluence of culture, technology, entrepreneurship and talent. The city, a largest industrial and commercial centre of South India and one of the biggest economically influential cities, has four pillars driving its economy. Automobile-auto ancillaries, IT-ITes, medical tourism, and electronics hardware have together been responsible for creating this robust economy. The economic growth also led to rise in aspirations of the workforce, mainly the IT professionals, and the globe-trotting entrepreneurs who wished for a luxury living. These aspirational buyers preferred residential location along the periphery of the city. It enabled walk-to-work-culture and provided convenience and ease of living through presence of social infrastructure.
One such location, the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) began witnessing transformation. It gained prevalence as a route post connecting Kotturpuram Bridge to Mahabalipuram in 1987. The Indian Institute of Technology was built in Guindy, transforming 600 acres of forest in the early 1960s, where the OMR or Rajiv Gandhi Salai road today commences, was a shift of decentralization of the city core and land use. Gradually in the year 2000 development of Tidel Park and IT park in SIPCOT further changed the fortune of the location.
We perceived a high demand for housing in the premium category in OMR. Being a pioneer of luxury real estate development, we decided to fill the gap by initiating our first project in Chennai. In 2006 we first acquired the land in OMR for developing our luxury mixed-use township spread across 120 acres. We successfully transformed this massive land in to range of luxurious residential towers and retail spaces; all constructed with neo-classical architecture and thoughtfully crafted green landscapes. The township comprises 2-5 BHK apartments along with amenities that elevates lifestyle of the residents and offers convenience to them. Today, OMR is one of the city’s crown jewels. It offers its residents many advantages, from connectivity, to social infrastructure and returns on investment, to name a few.
In terms of connectivity and infrastructure development, where does OMR stand?
Despite being located along the periphery of Chennai city, OMR stands out as the best growth corridor of Chennai. Multiple infrastructure developments that are planned and are work-in-progress have boosted the future of this locality. Some of the proposed plans include: Phase 2 of the Chennai Metro Rail spanning 118.9 km covering areas from Madhavram to SIPCOT,will largely benefit the localities along OMR; Multi deck elevated corridor: A 3-deck elevated corridor has been proposed by the Tamil Nadu government that will merge with the metro rail; Chennai peripheral road project: The proposed road will be joining four National Highways (NH5, NH205, NH4, NH45) and eight state highways that will boost up seamless connectivity from the suburbs to the city core.
The OMR strategically runs parallel with East Coast Road (ECR) and provides an easy commute to areas along the OMR stretch as well as localities situated outside the city limits. The Thoraipakkam – Pallavaram radial road provides an easy commute from Thoraipakkam, which falls along the OMR stretch. The other key link roads such as Maraimalai – Adigal Bridge, Medavakkam – Karapakkam enhance connectivity from OMR.
The city’s main railway station is around 35-km and can be accessed by Rajiv Gandhi Salai IT expressway. The Guindy railway station that is connected with the local railway network is located 20-km from OMR. The international airport is located 30-km from the OMR. It can be reached through the Chennai – Nagapattinam highway. The gradual upgradation of infrastructure development that has taken over in the last few years has projected OMR or Rajiv Gandhi Salai (RGS) to be the most desired location to invest and reside.
What future do you perceive for this location?
The location has immense scope for development. Today, OMR is one of the core employment nodes in Chennai city because of the large number of IT parks and well-known companies. The corridor of Madhya Kailash to Siruseri contributes three-quarters of the state’s software exports. They include Tidel Park, SIPCOT IT Park and Futura Tech Park. Among the IT companies that operate from here are TCS, Wipro Technologies and HCL Technologies. Technological advancements, infrastructure development, competitive rentals encouraged companies from other industries to set their office spaces along OMR. The amalgamation of diverse sectors along the zone led to the formulation of the Secondary Business District, providing not only a powerful economic spine but an avenue of job and economic wealth not restricted to a single sector.
Due to the tremendous growth of localities along OMR, the suburbs from this region were included in the limits of the Chennai Corporation that improved their access to basic infrastructure. Presence of IT parks along OMR has also boosted social infrastructure along this region. Reputed schools, healthcare facilities and entertainment parks have come up at this location in a short span of time. The growth momentum of this location is expected to continue with incorporation of robust civic and social infrastructure among a strong network of residential and commercial real estate.
OMR has turned in to a hub of townships. What are the returns one can expect from investing here?
Townships are self-sustaining neighbourhoods that offer a one-stop solution for residents. They provide convenience with easy access to daily necessities like supermarkets, education, health, shopping among many others. More than 350,000 employees in various companies are situated along the OMR corridor. There was a dire need for infrastructure supporting the backbone chain with seamless connectivity to the city centre and to be self-sustaining as a developing hotspot away from the city.
The gradual upgradation of infrastructure development that has taken over in the last few years has projected OMR or Rajiv Gandhi Salai (RGS) to be the desired location to invest and reside.This resulted in attracting IT professionals who aspired for a luxury living with workplace located at a walking distance. Strong affinity was shown in the area by not only end-users but also investors with assuring room for growth. The location has seen phenomenal growth bringing impressive returns on investment in recent years, and the trend is expected to continue in the future.
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