Embassy Becomes Co-developer for 30 Acre Chennai SEZ

Embassy Group, India’s leading property developer, has received approval from the Board of Approval to act as exclusive Co-Developer for the Notified SEZ at Chennai previously known as SNP Infrastructure Private Limited.

The project, a 30 acre SEZ property near Vel’s University on Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram radial road in Chennai will be known as Embassy Splendid TechZone.

The Bhoomi Pooja held on June 15 was attended by Embassy Group and SNP Infra team members. Phase 1 of this project will be 2 million sq. ft. is expected to be completed in 2019.

Talking on the MoU, Jitu Virwani, Chairman and Managing Director, Embassy Group, said, “We are excited to move ahead with this new partnership and add it to our existing multi SEZ portfolio. With this, we plan to strengthen our foothold in Chennai, a city with tremendous growth potential and a key market for our business. We share great synergy with SNP Infrastructure and look forward to having a longstanding relationship with them.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mike Holland, CEO Embassy Office Parks said, “Embassy Splendid Tech Zone, Chennai is strategically located less than 4 km from the Chennai airport, easily accessible from both OMR and GST roads, and served by Pallavaram & Velacherry railway station with strong local and residential neighbourhoods which can cater to, and benefit from, the planned IT SEZ. The location is elevated which gives natural protection from flooding and support to business community needs. Corporate occupiers could not wish for a more strategic location. We are already seeing strong demand from both residential and commercial users in this location.”

PR Gopal Raju, Chairman, SNP Infrastructure said, “We are happy to partner with Embassy Group for this venture and we look forward to recommencing construction of our first 2 m sq. ft. of SEZ offices at the earliest.”

Recently two of the existing Embassy SEZ’s in Bangalore were acknowledged as “Best Performing SEZs in India”. Embassy Manyata Business Park promoted by Manyata Promoters Private Limited and Embassy TechVillage promoted by Vikas Telecom Private Limited have been awarded with Certificate of Excellence by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Embassy Manyata Business Park and Embassy TechVillage were both notified as Special Economic Zones in 2006 and both have lived up to the objectives of the SEZ regime, which is to promote infrastructural development, generate employment, promote exports. These awards further acknowledge the market leading performance of the Embassy SEZ’s.

As on March 2016, Embassy has developed three SEZ’s with total investments of around Rs4700 Crore, with built up areas of 9.8 m sq. ft., generating 172,000 direct jobs, within 84 SEZ Units, and exports approximately Rs. 67,000 Crore.

After floods its business as usual for Chennai real estate

The recent unprecedented floods in Chennai has indeed put a spanner in the works of the real estate firms in the booming southern metropolis and its fledgling outskirts, albeit briefly.

After almost two weeks of hibernation and bright sun shine for almost ten days now, it is business as usual for real estate firms which are using innovative means to lure people to sell their projects.  While some draw people’s attention by claiming that the areas where their residential projects are coming up are safe as they have not been affected by floods, others are making indirect attempts to sell their projects in worst affected areas in and around Chennai by becoming good Samaritans.

The floods have virtually stopped all construction activities in the southern city and its outskirts. The real estate sector, which is already reeling under stagnation and negative growth for the last few years due to sagging economic growth, will find it hard to withstand the effects of the recent floods.

Several residential projects in Chennai’s most sough-after fringe areas on OMR, ECR and GST Roads and other prominent locations such as Maraimalainagar, Perungalathur, Thoraipakkam, Porur, Poonamalle,  Ambattur and Avadi were remained unsold and the floods have made the situation even worse. People may go choosy in selecting the areas now and most of the ground floor apartments will likely to find ‘no’ takers, feel real estate experts.

Under pressure, the developers and builders are worried to sell their homes. Take for example, the areas in west Tambaram and Mudichchur, which have several independent homes and villas bore the maximum brunt, with almost all of them went under water sinking the silt and ground floors inundating several cars and destroying properties worth crores of rupees.

Before the floods, these areas were one of the hottest destinations for home seekers in Chennai and real estate firms were making no mistakes in tapping the opportunities.  But now, there is not even a single real estate advertisement appearing on national dailies giving details about housing projects in Tambaram, Mudichchur, Nandambakkam or Velacherry. 

All these areas were the worst affected as several lives were lost here and several well-to-do-families virtually came on roads after losing their belongings due to the burgeoning Adayar River on the fateful night on December 1 when officials suddenly opened the flood gates of Chembarambakkam reservoir near Chennai.

After more than ten days now, some areas in KK Nagar, Valasaravakkam, Madippakkam are still under knee-deep water.  But sun slowly has started shining again on real estate firms in Chennai.

One can see a lot of real estate ads making their way in local and national dailies luring people with discounts and goodies to sell flats and plots, and in another month or so, people may even go for sight visits in areas of west Tambaram, Madipakkam, Keelkattalai or Mudichchur to purchase properties forgetting the fact that these areas were once the water bodies and now busy residential areas, thanks to the “efforts” taken by real estate sharks and corrupt officials.

With the state government, private organizations and enthusiastic individuals taking efforts to help the affected people, real estate firms in Chennai are now busy as usual, trying to reach out to their customers by all available means to sell their projects taking advantage of Chennaiites eternal affinity of owing homes.

K Ramanathan

Also published in Merinews.com.

IT/ITeS and SME sectors to drive Chennai office market in 2014

The Chennai office market has managed to beat the absorption level achieved during the post-recession recovery period of 2010 by 13% with a fair amount of transaction activity in 2013, although it fell behind the peak level of 2011 by 22%, according to a Knight Frank analysis.
 

The resurgence in office space demand from the IT/ITeS sector bodes well for the city's office market, it said, adding, 'While the past few years saw developers of all grades joining the fray in developing office space to attract IT/ITeS occupiers, the stringent economic conditions have dampened the enthusiasm bringing in a sense of realism into the market.'
 

IT/ITeS companies, although recruiting, are behaving prudently and taking up genuine numbers for employment. Along with occupiers, the developers have also become cautious and are presently adopting a conservative approach to their project completion timelines.
 

The year 2014 has been ear-marked as a very important period, owing to the impending formation of a new central government at the helm. Sentiments are expected to improve, but they need to sustain for some time in order to bring in the required confidence in the market.

While IT/ITeS sector will continue to drive demand, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sectors with requirements of smaller office spaces will show increased activity, providing an opportunity to the developers to tap this demand. The manufacturing industry is expected to gain momentum in 2014.

Going forward, office projects in OMR post toll and GST Road will evince interest from occupiers having large floor plate requirements at lower rentals. Pre-toll OMR do not have much supply planned, barring SP Infocity in Perungudi. The IT/ITeS sector will be the driving force for office space demand.
Guindy is poised to emerge as an alternative to CBD and off-CBD locations, catering to the demand of the non-IT/ITeS sector with a smaller office size mandate.

The upcoming Metro Rail would be an added advantage to this office micromarket. Meanwhile, considerable supply is in the pipeline along the post-toll OMR which will be released into the market in phases over long intervals. Among the upcoming areas of growth, Porur holds much potential, although it depends on the developers whether they would be willing to live with the fact that residential development would fetch a better price.
 

On the other hand, the CBD will continue to remain an important market in terms of value with non-IT/ITeS sectors contributing to office space demand here. On the rental front, values are expected to remain stable in most micro-markets, although marginal appreciation is envisaged in projects
witnessing occupier interest.