The Chennai commercial market space is witnessing a dip due to a lack of supply of IT office space and it has to be resolved soon, said a top industry official.
“There is a dip in commercial market space in Chennai as there is no great supply of IT office space. This is a great cause for concern,” said Ajit Chordia, president, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) Tamil Nadu. “It [the market] is expected to recover next year.”
Last year, developers had sold 5 million sq ft of IT office space and this year, they expect to sell 4.5 million sq. ft., he said.
Several prominent builders were engaged in developing properties worth ₹10,000 crore in different locations in the city. It includes 5-6 million sq.ft by Embassy, DLF 3 million sq.ft., RMZ 2 million sq.ft., Raheja 1 million sq.ft. Brigade 3 million sq.ft., Olympia Tech Park 1.20 million sq.ft., and World Trade Centre 3 million sq.ft. among others. It would lead to the addition of 20 million sq ft of IT office space. “In the next three years, Chennai will have an oversupply of IT office space and this will put the real estate developers in a fix.”
Government help sought
“For this, we require the State government to step in and promote Chennai as a destination, make land available at a reasonable price, put approvals on the fast track and come out with a new Information Technology policy,” he said.
He added that due to spillover of demand in Bengaluru, IT firms were heading to Hyderabad due to adequate supply and a proactive policy.
Welcoming the setting up of a new IT Park on the outskirts of Chennai, he said it might give life to micro market of Ambattur, which was struggling to establish itself as an IT market. “It is a right step in the right direction.”
Mentioning co-working as a new trend being followed worldwide, he said: “It gives the occupants more flexibility to operate, employers need not worry about increasing or decreasing headcount and the common infrastructure is shared at an affordable cost. It is an emerging trend and must be encouraged.”
