Mall-residence concept makes rapid strides in Chennai city

Sanjay Chugh, founder of Skylines Property Consultants pointed out that malls were conceived as spaces to promote retail business and form a social eco-system for the visitors. Over time, they evolved to becoming community spaces with events being planned around festivals. 

“The biggest advantage malls provide is access to social eco system. They provide convenience of shopping, eating out and good entertainment all within a small radius. Faster capital appreciation and attractive lease rentals for the owners are some of the advantages. 

However, one of the disadvantage of residential development in malls is traffic congestion during weekends and shopping festivals. 

He adds that this trend would slowly gain popularity in Chennai. Already three operational malls - Phoenix Market City, Express Avenue and Grand Mall have integrated residential development along with the them. The upcoming Grand Mall on the OMR is also developing residential apartments above the it.” 

“Though this concept is catching up fast, it is relatively new to the city. Although, the city has residential areas around densely populated shopping localities such as Mylapore, T.Nagar, Purasawalkam and Anna Nagar, vertical integration with malls is gradually gaining acceptance. 

Also, shopping spaces in malls is restricted to the second or third floors, thereby creating an opportunity for residential apartments to occupy the upper floors of the building, he said. 

Gopu Rajgopal, Managing Director, Phoenix Market City said Phoenix Market City Mall cum Crest Residences is one of the largest integrated development in Chennai. “Providing a modern and world class residential apartment development above the mall has been a challenging one. We have designed the residential towers to have independent entrances and lobbies thereby offering convenience, privacy and security,” he said.

Crest Residences provide lifestyle amenities like a large club house, swimming pool, games area, jogging track, golf chip and put, tennis and multipurpose courts on the residential podium and landscaped areas for residents exclusively. To come down to watch a movie at the drop of a hat will be savoured by the occupants. The community which is exposed to such developments abroad have been keen to own such apartments. 

Better amenities Ganesh CV, vice-president (Leasing & Marketing), Express Infrastructure Pvt Ltd notes that currently, mixed used developments of real estate takes an edge of providing all amenities and facilities in one stop destination.  People are more than happy about the convenience such a concept provides. “Therefore residential developments in malls will cater to needs of everyone at all times. For residents, it is a matter of convenience to access into the mall, and for the mall, it  provides captive target consumers,” he added.