REALTY MUMBAI AND SEA LINK EFFECT

It is an eight-lane bridge over the sea that has gladdened the hearts of motorists in Mumbai, especially those on the western suburbs. And, needless to say, realtors too are a happy lot as better infrastructure leads to property appreciation.

The much hyped Bandra-Worli sea-link was expected to cut travel time from the western suburb of Bandra to central Mumbai from 60-75 minutes to a mere seven minutes, sans blaring horns, frayed tempers and traffic snarls. A conservative estimate pegged vehicle operational cost savings at about Rs 100 crore annually as traffic was estimated at about 1.2 lakh passenger car units near the western end at Mahim.

However, in reality, both the ends of the bridge taper to a single file and motorists are constrained to spend over 15-20 minutes manoeuvring through choke points after traversing the bridge. Moreover, only four lanes are now operational and four more are likely to be thrown open to traffic by the year end.

Constraints apart, the 5 km Rs 1,800-crore link is an engineering marvel, which has made many a visitor stop and gape.

Bajaj Electrical Ltd, which unravelled over 100 km of cable to illuminate the bridge, has added ample gloss by its lighting systems. The lighting alone will consume 1000 KW a day as 225 glass reinforced polyester lamp poles have been installed on the bridge, besides those for the stay cables of the super structure.

DEFINITE APPRECIATION


The General Secretary of the Builders Association of India, Mr Anand J. Gupta, said the sea-link definitely enhanced property values in Bandra (both east and west) and Worli, not to speak of the locations close to the Western Expressway. Moreover, it would help some people take a buy call, who otherwise were postponing purchases.

Stating that it was a little too early to quantify the impact in terms of prices, he said it was known that the prices quoted by developers in Bandra (both east and west), where the rates hover at Rs 12,000-Rs 18,000, were higher by Rs 1,500 a sq.ft

At Worli, developers, who otherwise would settle for Rs 20,000-22,000 a sq.ft, are now asking Rs 25,000.

The impact was also visible in Andheri, especially in locations that had easy access to the highway, he said.

Mr Pawan Swamy, Managing Director-West, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, said

Worli had no commercial component on the sea-face and a positive commercial trend in the rest of Worli was expected.

Bandra West too had no commercial property market of significance, with the entire focus on that front being on BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex) in the east. BKC had its own dynamics and no major change could be attributable to the sea-link as such.

In terms of residential values, Bandra (West) would improve because of enhanced connectivity to south Mumbai.

Worli would also see positive effects, despite the fact that it had very limited residential supply. Values there would rise because of improved approachability to the airport and the western suburbs.

In general, Mr Swamy said over the last 2-3 quarters, there was hardly any price appreciation anywhere in the city, and that included Bandra and Worli. Prices for certain projects might have increased in response to specific market dynamics, but locations tended to remain steady in terms of prices.

He said that the western suburb from Bandra to Andheri would see the most noticeable market improvement and the impact would taper off as one went further down.

Mr Hardeep Dayal, Managing Director, Centrum Infrastructure and Realty, said it was too early to evaluate the impact.

Motoring across the bridge was not completely smooth as bottlenecks at the Worli exit were a dampener. The full impact would be known once the impediments were cleared and all eight lanes became operational.

TOURIST HOTSPOT


The bridge appears to making a mark as a ‘must see’ tourist spot in the city. Many tour operators were upbeat of the prospects. If toll collection is of any indication in the first few weeks, the numbers were highest on Saturdays and Sundays.