R ecently, along with his family, K. Ravi Babu waved goodbye to living at his company quarters in Whitefield and moved into a spacious villa.
While Babu was weighing the options before him, visiting various projects, he was clear about one thing. The space he could call his own had to be in Whitefield. Finally, he found his dream villa at Kadugodi.
Babu is aware of what he has let himself into. “Commuting in Whitefield is a nightmare,” admits Babu, who works as administrative officer at Vydehi Group of Institutions.
Two factors had driven him to take this decision. One, he had to make an investment when he could. Two, the promises that the future holds for Whitefield.
Babu has a lot riding on two ongoing infrastructure projects -- Metrorail Phase II connecting Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield, and the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR). He believes these two projects will change the profile of Whitefield.
PRR project will integrate national and state highways around Bengaluru, which include Tumkur Road, Bellary Road, Old Madras Road and Hosur Road, thereby reducing the pressure on Outer Ring Road (ORR).
And, everyone knows what a Metro project can do for a region. If it keeps its deadline, Metrorail Phase II will be functional in 2020.
Both these projects promise to address Bengaluru’s traffic woes, especially those faced by residents of localities in and around Whitefield.
Once a quaint little settlement, Whitefield underwent incredible transformation when Information Technology companies started getting themselves an address in the region, from the early 2000s. With the advent of the Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) and International Technology Park of Bengaluru (ITPB), Whitefield’s stock went up considerably.
With Whitefield becoming a preferred destination for IT companies, there was a sudden spike in residential and commercial projects.
However, just as in the case of Old Mahabalipuram Road in Chennai, infrastructure development did not keep pace with people’s aspirations, which included a home that is just a hop, skip and a jump away from their workplaces.
Most roads in Whitefield are not wide enough to take the huge volume of vehicles hitting the region every day. Over four lakh people work in various multi-national companies located in Whitefield, say realtors.
“Any infrastructure project that can address the traffic woes in Whitefield will be a boon, which is why everybody is keenly waiting for the Metro Phase II and PRR to become functional,” says Ayub Khan, honorary secretary, National Association of Realtors India.
Outer Ring Road (ORR) had accelerated real estate development in Bengaluru, and PRR can do the same, especially for Whitefield.
“PRR and Metro are expected to further improve the real estate market as people are going to save on travel time,” says Khan.
While Metro work is progressing at a gallop, the PRR project seems to be moving at a tardy pace.
A lull in residential development?
Today, a majority of those investing in properties in Whitefield are those who work at offices here. According to a report by Prashant Thakur, head-research, Anarock Property Consultants, over the last five years, around 28,500 new residential units have come up in the Whitefield region.
Over this five-year period, maximum number of launches of housing projects was witnessed in 2013-2015, which accounts for 83% of unit launches in the said time-frame.
Since 2016, new launches are declining significantly. Factors contributing to this situation include a huge stock of unsold units and the large-scale impact of demonetisation, GST and Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA).
“As of the third quarter of 2017, around 8,500 unsold units were seen. Developers active in Whitefield are currently focussed on clearing existing stock rather than adding new supply in the micro-market,” says the report.
The report also states that currently in Whitefield, there are more than 12,000 units that are at the ready-to-move-in stage.
“Currently, no new launches are happening in Whitefield but the situation will change. Areas such as Budigere Cross, Hoskote, Sarjapur and Electronic City will also benefit if work on PRR is completed soon,” says Khan, who is also honorary secretary of Bangalore Realtors Association India.
Whitefield Rising, a voluntary group of residents working to address various issues in the area, want suburban train network and bus connectivity improved in the area.
“Both Metro and PRR will take time. Meanwhile, plying more buses and increasing the frequency of suburban trains will encourage people to use public transport and address infrastructure-related mobility issues,” says Pravir B., a member of Whitefield Rising.
