What Kabali has done for Chennai is that it has made people look at this southern metro with new eyes. Chennai, the staid sedate old lady among metros, is giddy and flamboyant as they come: themed cars and aircraft, companies giving employees a holiday to watch a film, ‘first day, first show’ and what not. Is that a change? Not really, Chennai has always been a cinema crazy city. But with Kabali, the frenzy had reached a new level. So while the core remains the same, the decibel levels have gone up. Other things which have not changed include the aroma of filter coffee, the rustle of Kancheepuram silk and the timeless beating of the surf on Besant Nagar beach.
But Besant Nagar itself has changed. No longer the sleepy sea side suburb, the prices of real estate here are among the highest in the city. So, prospective home buyers are house hunting on the Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) or westward towards Porur and its environs.
This brings us to Alapakkam, a suburb which lies to the west of Chennai. You can reach this place either by taking Arcot Road or going down Poonamallee High Road. This locality is quite close to Porur which, in recent times, has attracted a lot of attention from people who want to invest in homes.
The three main areas in Alapakkam are Perumal Koil Street, Krishna Nagar and Astalalakshmi Nagar. This locality comes under the jurisdiction of the Chennai Corporation. The area is attracting house hunters because of its proximity to Porur, which is already quite popular. Property prices in Porur are on the uptick. In the last quarter of 2015 between January and March 2016, there was an average increase of 6% in prices, which on an average was INR 5300 per sq ft.
Many manufacturing units and chemical industries are located in Porur. Of late, Porur has evolved into a hub for Information Technology (IT) and many of the big brands in the industry which include IBM, Barclays, L&T, HCL, Logica, Dell to name a few, are located here. A large number of people who live around this locality are employed in the DLF IT Park, where a number of companies are located. In addition to that, three more IT special economic zones (SEZ) are coming up in this locality. It is estimated that more than a lakh of people will be employed in the three SEZs.
Real estate experts say that the prices of housing in Porur and places such as Alapakkam are likely to go up in the future. The requirement for housing in these areas will also be huge; and is expected to bring some big names in construction into this locality. As an investment too, buying a housing unit in Alapakkam might turn out to be a good deal, as real estate experts expect that there will be a big demand for rentals in the areas surrounding Porur.
This is, of course, based on the premise that people will want to live nearer the place of work rather than commute long distances. It might also mean that people who wish to invest in a second house might do so in this area, as it will pay in the long run.
Location wise also Alapakkam logs in a good score. Chennai International Airport is about 13 km from this area. It is also close to the Mount Poonamallee Road, Arcot and the Chennai Bypass Road. Arumbakkam Metro Rail station is quite close by and can be approached via the Arcot Road. Arcot Road also connects to Nungambakkam, Guindy and Poonamallee by the Mount Poonamallee Road.
So even if Kabali was not quite what was expected, if you do the ground work and research well, your investment into a home in Alapakkam would be more than what you expected.
Nina Varghese for IndiaProperty.com
Image: By Arun Christopher from Chennai – DLF IT Park, Chennai, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32370417