Ahmedabad is witnessing significant growth and development in the commercial realty space. “The expanding business activity has led to a higher demand for office space and caused an appreciation in capital values of office space by 20-25 per cent in past six months. Areas such as Prahlad Nagar, SG Highway, Ashram Road, Bopal are few of the localities noticing higher demand and value appreciation,” says Mayur Verma property advisor at MP Consultants. The quality and services of the existing office spaces in these areas have risen remarkably in addition to their strategic location and connectivity.
Verma cites another reason for the trend. “Few companies purchased office space in Prahlad Nagar and SG Highway as these locations offer better deals compared to office space available in metro cities”, he says.
The commercial activity in the city is expanding owing to a rise in demand, entry of multiple IT/ITeS companies, affordable property values, enhanced connectivity and developing infrastructure. According to a JLL report during the last quarter, “Approximately 3.5 million square feet of commercial space has come up in the city over the last four years. Another 1.1 million square feet is currently under construction and about 2.5 million square feet will come up in next 2-3 years.”
“Large IT companies having operations in different cities are comparing their rental outflows and relocating to more cost-effective locations such as SG Highway and Prahlad Nagar,” says Prakash Jain of Jain Associates. Office space available in the submarkets proves to be less expensive for the big multinational companies. Availability of local manpower and lower attrition rates are the other reasons prompting the major IT groups to shift their base here, he added.
On an average the capital values of office spaces at Prahlad Nagar and SG Highway vary from Rs 3,500-7,000 per sq ft. Overall, the city of Ahmedabad is witness to an all round growth with the upcoming DMIC corridor, emergence of Sanand industrial area and prospects of Maruti locating its operations near Bechraji. Proposed plans for high-speed rail connectivity between Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Pune are also in pipeline along with the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway.
Nidhi Vashisth, MagicBricks.com Bureau