Hyderabad Metro Rail Showcases Sample Station Retail Stores

Source: NDTV

HYDERABAD:  Each typical metro station of Hyderabad Metro Rail will have retail space ranging from 2,500 square feet to 9,000 square feet while interchange and special stations will have more space, said project developer L&T announced today.

Two stores of 180 and 200 square feet have been created at Nagole station to showcase to retailers and others to give them a first-hand experience of the proposed space.

L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd chief executive and managing director VB Gadgil on today inaugurated the sample retail stores and unveiled the retail development plans.

Under the brand name Hyderabad Next, the retail space at the stations is being developed to cater to the daily requirements of commuters making metro their one stop solution.

Each centre will have convenience stores like grocery, vegetable, daily needs, accessory stores, quick service restaurants, large format food courts, ATMs, medical stores and laundry centres.

There will be a total of 64 stations including 55 typical stations, three interchange stations and four special stations. A typical station will have retail space ranging from 2,500 square feet to 9,000 square feet at two different locations at a concourse level. Station retail box will have stores sizes ranging from 100 square feet to 350 square feet while entry exit retail area will have store sizes ranging from 1,000 square feet to 2,500 square feet.

Interchange and special stations will have retail spaces ranging from 10,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet with store sizes ranging from 1,500 square feet to any maximum possible size.

These stations are being considered to be made as destination stations with kids, women, electronic, and entertainment themes.

The developer has also come up with a unique advertising model to make the advertising business more professional with reduced risk and return on investment to brands.

In June, L&T Metro Rail had announced that it will develop six million square feet of real estate at a cost of about Rs. 2,300 crore under the first phase as part of Metro rail project, which is expected to be commissioned in July 2017.

The construction major, which is building 71.16 km elevated Metro rail in public-private partnership, has already achieved financial closure for the first phase of Transit Oriented Development (TOD), which is scheduled to be completed with the commissioning of the Metro.

L&T also plans to take up development of 12.5 million square feet of space over next 10 years. Mr Gadgil had hinted that this may require more than Rs. 5,000 crore.

In 2011, LTMRHL achieved financial closure for Rs. 16,375 crore - Rs. 14,132 crore for Metro rail system and Rs. 2,243 crore for first phase of TOD.

Land price in Hyderabad breaks all records

Breaking all records, an acre of land in Hyderabad has fetched Rs.29.28 crore to the Telangana government in an e-auction conducted on Wednesday.

Source: ET
Breaking all records, an acre of land in Hyderabad has fetched Rs.29.28 crore to the Telangana government in an e-auction conducted on Wednesday.

Aurobindo Pharma bought the prime land of five acres at the highest rate in Raidurgam close to the IT clusters of Hitec City and Gachibowli. The same company purchased another parcel of 3.65 acres in the same area at a price of Rs.24.88 crore per acre.

Naya Infra purchased two acres of land in Raidurgam at a price of Rs.24.20 crore per acre. Saimed Labs paid Rs.22.02 crore per acre for a three acre parcel.

Officials said this broke all previous records. Even during the boom time in 2007-08, the auction of government land in Raidurgam had only fetched Rs.18 crore to Rs.23 crore per acre.

The companies, which purchased the land in the auction conducted by Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC), plan to build world-class corporate headquarters.

The government body also auctioned lands in Manikonda and Kokapet areas for residential use. The price also broke previous records. A real estate company paid Rs.12.63 crore for an acre in Manikonda while an acre land in Kokapet fetched Rs.6.05 crore to the government.

TSIIC managing director E. V. Narasimha Reddy said that to ensure transparency, the auction was conducted through e-auction cum e-tender process.

IT expansion plans lift Hyderabad office rentals over 45%

According to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) India, the rents in 2009 and 2010 were in the range of 28-32 per sq ft per month, compared with 43-47 per sqft now

Source: ET
Hyderabad is witnessing a sudden upsurge in commercial office rentals that have appreciated over 45% as corporates have started taking calls on their expansion plans, which were shelved for the past five years.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) India, the rents in 2009 and 2010 were in the range of 28-32 per sq ft per month, compared with 43-47 per sqft now. "During the political instabili ty, construction activity slowed down significantly, leading to rise in rents in key sub-markets of Hyderabad. The rents appreciated almost 15-20% in the past two years, given the strong corporate expansion in Hyderabad with limited availability of quality leasable space," said Trivita Roy, associate director (research and REIS), JLL India.

The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh had delayed office space plans of several companies. With the formation of the new state -Telangana -and new policies being rolled out by the new government, the unease among corporates has eased, and they have started looking for office space.

The city, which is home to offices of MS, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Yahoo, saw property valuations mostly being stagnant, or increasing by less than 2%. IT companies that had kept their expansion on hold in Hyderabad due to the Telangana crisis are back in action. Accenture, UHG, Zen Q, HSBC and JPMC ex panded more than one lakh sq ft this year, which has reduced the vacancy levels in Hyderabad.

The vacancy in the key IT hubs such as Hitec City and Gachibowli is about 7% for grade A office assets. "About 3.6 million sq ft of supply is likely to hit market in 2016 and this does not include the built to suit, or campus options, of office space," said Roy.

Vineet Surana, director at APS Property Solutions in Hyderabad, said, "Grade A office space vacancy levels had fallen to single digits. Rentals in peripheral business districts like Madhapur & Kondapur have seen a surge of 15-18% over the previous years.

Coincidentally, the city also recorded the highest office space absorption among the top eight cities in the country in the third quarter of 2015, according property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, as political stability in the region saw more corporates sign property deals.

Net absorption of office space in the city was recorded at 24 lakh sq ft, while commitments were at 3.85 lakh sq ft, the highest office space net absorption witnessed after the formation of Telangana and the highest since 2008.

Puravankara Projects, a Bengaluru-based developer, sold its Grade A Office Space in Hi-Tech City (Kondapur), in Hyderabad, to investors in four days.

"We are witnessing an increasing demand for commercial office space in Hyderabad. Infrastructure development, political stability and significant FDI in vestments have been very encouraging. This would lead to a sustained real estate growth in this region," said Ashish Puravankara, MD, Puravankara Projects.