Lucknow Municipal Corporation lays out real estate venture plan

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) would realize its long-held dream of venturing into real estate post Diwali. The corporation has finalised tenders for building a huge commercial complex in Kamta, near the new high court building, and three residential projects - one behind Omaxe City on Rae Bareli Road and two others in Para. All these ventures are set to begin this month.

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LMC has got huge land pools in five distinct pockets of city. Under residential projects, it would be constructing more than 100 residential towers (G+3 and G+8) with more than 1,500 flats. On Rae Bareli Road, it owns 5.5 hectare land which would be used to make around 800 MIG flats in G+3 and G+8 buildings and several HIG duplex units. Municipal Commissioner Uday Raj Singh said, "While work has started in Kamta, construction in Para and behind Omaxe City on Rae Bareli Road will begin post Diwali."

Several 3BHK, 2BHK- MIG and LIG flats are proposed in the Para project. There would be provision for MIG duplex units too. The residential projects would also have community facilities like clubs, swimming pool, shops, commercial places, terrace garden, community halls etc. The move would give housing facility to many while also generating surplus revenue to be spent on infrastructure development of city.

Official in charge said, "LMC owns a land of about 1,235 square metre area near Kamta in Gomtinagar. The contractor has already started laying foundation of the complex." This land would be used to erect a five storeyed commercial building for official purpose. LMC's zonal '4' office catering to residents of Gomtinagar and Indiranagar would also be shifted to this complex while other floors would be rented out to lawyers' chambers, corporates and private companies. This complex's construction cost is pegged at around Rs 10 crore.

Source - TOI

Lucknow: Small city buyers eyeing branded homes?

Big cities, big spendings! But can that be true for a small city? A sizeable number of homebuyers in Lucknow have indicated that this could be true. Shedding its image as a Tier- II city, Lucknow has gone in for an image makeover with most local brokers and industry insiders pointing out that investment patterns have changed over the years. How comfortable are buyers putting in their precious savings into a small city?

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Brijesh Pratap, a broker at Shree Ganesh Properties says, “A large number of buyers today have moved away from the traditional inclination of investing in plots. Their pick today is apartments. While Lucknow’s real estate is accommodative when it comes to buyers from different income segments, most buyers are comfortable looking for properties above Rs 40 lakh.”

However, this doesn’t mean that the market herein is devoid of affordable options. Magicbricks data shows that there are plenty of properties available even within Rs 25 lakh. However, this leaning towards spacious houses displays an interesting trend. Ratnesh Rau, a consultant at Easy Address says, “It clearly reflects the aspirations of local buyers. With disposable incomes on the rise, buyers profile has expanded. It is no longer the middle-aged buyer who has saved over the years who looks for homes. The age group has reduced with buyers age group starting from anywhere from late 20’s to mid-40’s.”

Pratap says that of the buyers, almost more than half of them are early on in their career. They are though well-settled and have opted to invest in Lucknow due to relatively lower entry costs or because their family members and relatives are in the same city. Some buy these properties for their parents in Lucknow as opposed to the original buyers themselves who are working in Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru and in most cases abroad as well.

What is the future of an investment in Lucknow? Karunesh Gupta of Sai Sant Property says, “Buyers might be either an end-user or an investor. In cities like Lucknow, property prices are still rational and most buyers are end-users. So there is not much to lose unlike say an unpredictable market where prices fluctuate within every six months. Price escalations in Lucknow have been slow but gradual and impressive.”

Source - MB