Promising Hotspot in GURUGRAM

Sohna Road has positioned itself as a well-established and self-sustainable micro market, with a good mix of commercial, residential and retail development options.

Sohna Road in Gurugram is a well-established office market with sufficient ready options in residential, retail and entertainment hubs – more important, it is close to National Highway 8.

With 8 million sq ft of ready office stock, Sohna Road constitutes roughly 12% of the overall office stock of Gurugram, and continues to grow with another 2.5 million sq ft of supply under construction which is expected to be delivered by 2019-20. The average vacancy levels in this office market are 22-25%.

Prominent office buildings on this stretch include Bestech Business Tower, Vatika Business Park, Brookfield (Candor Tech Space), Space I Tech Park, and JMD Megapolis.

These are mix of IT-ITeS, commercial, and SEZ office buildings. The current rental values on this stretch vary between Rs 50 and Rs 70 per sq ft per month.

In recent years, many large Grade A offices and MNCs have relocated from various parts of the city and established their offices on Sohna Road, like Convergys, Boston Scientific, Capgemini, Xerox, Atos, PayU Payments, Aricent, E Value Serve, and Infosys.

“Considering office-leasing, Sohna Road has done well in the past few years as it offers attractive and competitive rentals, compared to other CBD locations of Gurugram, good connectivity to NH-8, Grade A buildings by reputed developers, large contiguous floor plates, a good mix of retail amenities within campus, etc. Further, developers in this market are extremely flexible and offer additional sops to office occupiers like operational rent-free periods, investment in capital expenditure or fit-outs, longer lease terms, right of first refusal, etc,” Vineet Anand, director (office services, NCR) of Colliers International India, said.

As for commercial investment, many projects on this stretch are very popular amongst medium to large high net worth individuals (HNIs) and investors looking for steady rental income.

Investment or purchase options are available in the range of 500-1,000 sq ft, going all the way up to 10,000 sq ft plus, depending upon the project or floor plate size. Generally, these investments have the potential to offer rental yield between 6.75% and 7.5%, depending upon the type of tenant, lease structuring, etc.

Vineet Taing, president of Vatika Business Centre, says: “Sohna can be considered a hub of retail and commercial development. Enjoying excellent connectivity with Golf Course Extension Road (part of the Southern Peripheral Road), NH-8, and New Gurugram, it is an ideal destination for corporates to invest in the commercial sector, especially office spaces and co-working spaces. Most of the start-ups are attracted to co-working spaces due to low rentals. South of Gurugram is one place which offers excellent space at affordable prices.”

In addition to the commercial prospects, Sohna Road also offers some good ready-tomove-in residential options.

“Prominent projects on this stretch include Central Park 2 (Central Park Resorts), Bestech Parkview 1 & 2, Vipul Greens, Tatvam Villas, and Malibu Towne. These projects offer mix of 2-, 3-, and 4BHK units, luxury villas, independent floors, plotted developments, etc. The average rates on this stretch are in the range of Rs 8,000 10,000 per sq ft. Overall, Sohna Road has positioned itself as a well-established and self-sustainable micromarket, with a good mix and amalgamation of commercial, residential and retail development options,” Vineet Anand says.

GROWTH, INVESTMENT

Gaurav Mittal, MD of CHD Developers, says: “Sohna Road has emerged as a prime commercial location in the Gurugram market. Its excellent connectivity with Golf Course Extension Road and NH-8 makes this location an ideal destination for investment in commercial projects. Investors looking for affordable options and long-term investment horizons may select this location. It makes perfect sense to invest today when prices are affordable. Once the proposed infrastructure is in place, prices are bound to go up.”

Ravish Kapoor, director of Elan Group, says: “Rapid urbanization and unending migration of working population from different states has created tremendous demand for Sohna Road.

“The area is set to become a hub for commercial, residential, institutional, and industrial development because of its strategic location. The rates of properties here are much lower than those of Delhi-Gurugram, with better facilities to boot. Investors looking for long-term horizons will find excellent options in this area.”

Source : TOI