Coimbatore touted as 1of the most liveable cities
Textiles and auto ancillaries have all been associated with Coimbatore - a city that hardly has the image of being a centre for high-living of the urban variety. Now, that funfamished image of the city is getting a total makeover as Coimbatore metamorphoses into one where big-time players dot the shopping and entertainment space. With all types of entertainment companies jostling for space in the city, Coimbatore is right now witnessing a changeover. The most pronounced proof of that is the mushrooming of shopping malls and multiplexes in the city, with commercial property developers from within and outside the city caught in a race to establish them.According to N. Ananthanarayanan, associate director of Trammel Crow Meghraj Property Consultants, a national-level company involved in the construction industry, Coimbatore has been touted as one of the most liveable cities in the country and is on the threshold of becoming the next ideal IT destination in the state ranked only behind Chennai. Areas such as Crosscut Road, Oppanakara Street, Raja Street, D. B. Road and Avinashi Road have become the emerging retail areas to cater to those with spending power in Coimbatore.“On the retail front, the city is witnessing the onset of mall format development. About half a dozen malls with a built up area of two million sq ft each are scheduled to be operational in the next three years,” said Mathew Joseph, regional manager of HDFC Bank.
The Essel Group has acquired land on Avinashi Road for developing its retail format called Forum along with a multiplex and a Food & Entertainment Centre (FEC). Brookefields Developers are planning a three lakh sq ft mall on the erstwhile Brooke Bond factory situated close to the railway junction and is scheduled to be operational by the end of this year, informed sources told ET. “Surat - based developers Daga Brothers will undertake another mall coming up on the Avinashi Road and E-city Ventures has plans to develop a multiplex on a 3-5 acre plot along the Coimbatore-Tirupur Link Road,” Mr Joseph said.
ETL Infrastructure Services is also planning to develop a 7 lakh sq ft mall off the Avinashi Road where land prices seem to be up, up and away Kolkatha-based PS Group, which has several large-format housing and commercial projects in the east, along with another Kolkatha developer, Srijan Group, is dwarfing that one with a 9.5 lakh sq ft destination mall in Coimbatore and plans to pump in Rs 225 crore for the same. Joining the bandwagon is Pentasoft Technologies that plans to replicate its Mayajaal theme park in Coimbatore. “We are scouting for suitable land of about 6 acres in the city and have earmarked Rs 22 crore for this”, its CEO Mr Hari Haran, said.
