Regional Headline :

Residential & office complexes are becoming ever bigger, with excellent infrastructure, and food, shopping, sports, and entertainment options, and little dependence on BBMP

BIG IS BETTER IN B’LURU

Large green spaces and lots of facilities at no extra cost

SKY IS NdT fHélIMIT: Prestige Shantiniketan in Whitefield (in picture) was the city’s first integrated township, comprising apartments, office

lspaces, and mall

Large integrated “ townships where you can work, live

and unwind after a hard day at work are becoming popular. They are equipped with social infrastructure like restaurants, bars, grocery stores. Most of your basic needs can be met within the complex, which helps you save a lot of time. Nirupa Shankar | JOINT MANAGING DIRECTOR, BRIGADE ENTERPRISES

1love the parks near

Jayanagar, but I'm terrified of street dogs. I've given at . least 1,000 rabies vaccines < | to kids due to dog bites. So | AR

We don’t have to step out for anything gymnastics classes for kids, satsang for the elders, squash, badminton or swimming. Birthday parties can be easily organised in the clubhouse hall. We celebrate cultural events of different states and these events are open to all residents. It allows one to be a fuller Indian.

Jayanth KV | ResiDeNT, SOBHA DREAM ACRES

We have been able to bring down the maintenance cost to Rs 3.50 to Rs 4 per sqft

over time. Even in a small apartment complex with no major amenities, the maintenance cost can be around Rs 3 per sqft.

SHANTINIKETAN

Biggest residential complexes

The Prestige City | Sarjapur Rd 165 acres | 8,000 units

Brigade Orchards | Devanahalli 135 acres | 4,000 units

Bhartiya City | Thanisandra Road 125 acres | 4,532 units (another 2,100 coming up)

Tangled Up in Green | Doddaballapur Road | 110 acres 1900 plots

Prestige Shantiniketan |Whitefield | 105 acres | 3,002 units

Sobha Dream Acres | Varthur 84 acres | 5,432 units

Provident Sunworth City | Mysore Road | 61 acres | 6,300 units Brigade El Dorado | Bagalur Road 50 acres | 6,000 units

Source: Companies

We have more than 25 complexes in Bengaluru with 500+ units. The average size of complexes is going up. The larger land area enables larger greens and open areas and more common facilities. Praveer Shrivastava | senioR ve, RESIDENTIAL, PRESTIGE GROUP

eI LN e g PRESH e oo ene | Certoallage groups, it and the sense of security

and community in the

don’t want to step out early in the morning. Living in a large apartment complex allows you to meet your fitness goals within the complex.

When you buy materials in bulk, you can reduce the cost of construction because you can negotlate better. It's economies of scale.

So, a developer building thousands fim;,gum;e'm of apartments can bring down the cost. 2;::5:5':“ | Ashwinder R Singh | cco - ResipenTiAL, RESIDENT, MANTRI BHARTIYA URBAN, AND CO-CHAIR, Cll NR SERENITV' COMMITTEE ON REAL ESTATE

large complexes. Of particular value for homebuyers are the large green spaces and the ease of connectivity. . Abhishek Kapoor | (GROUP CEO, PPURAVANKARA

Mini Thomas & Sujit John |

or Mihir Sanghavi, happiness is spending time with Mihika, his daughter. “She loves reading out stories to me,” smiles the doting dad.

Mihir, 39, resident of Brigade Gateway in Rajaji Nagar, walks to his office at World Trade Centre that’s in the same integrated township. Mihika goes to Brigade School, just a stone’s throw from their home. Given the proximity of home, office and school, the two are able to spend a lot of time together. The space even hosts the Orion Mall, which means the family can walk to do all their shopping too.

It's for reasons like this that residential complexes in Bengaluru are getting bigger and bigger. While those that combine residences, offices and malls are still few, large complexes with only residences are also enormously attractive for two reasons. One, private developers build infrastructure and green spaces within these complexes that offer a great escape from BBMP'’s shoddy works. Two, they offer a range of facilities, including food, shopping, sports, and entertainment options. And given that costs for these facilities are shared by hundreds or thousands of flats, monthly maintenance chargesare barely more than for smaller apartment com plexes with no such facilities.

Arun Kumar, co-founder of Bangalore Apartments’ Federation, estimates there could be about 700 complexes in Bengaluru each with 500 or more apartments.

Jayanth KV, resident at Sobha Dream Acres, says the campus is so well-maintained, with nice walking areas, landscaping, planned spaces, and areas tosit, that when guests come, they love to take them around. “We also have guest rooms where our relatives/ friends can stay if needed. Even if we are working, kids can safely play with their friends in the skating rink, football and cricket grounds, play area, sand pit. All these facilities were missing in the places where we stayed previously,” he says.

These well-guarded communities are also a haven for the elderly, allowing them to connect with like-minded people and participate in leisure activities. They are cultural melting pots too, with large numbers from every community. Often it becomes a competition among the communities to organise ever bigger and better functions to celebrate their festivals. “Every festival gets its due,” says Anuja Venkataraman, who stays in Prestige Shantiniketan and who works as a research associate at Azim Premji University. These functions, which invariably involve flea markets, food and cultural activities, are open to all.