Chembur: Industrial centre to residential hub

Chembur was known primarily as an industrial destination with the presence of companies such as RCF and BARC. Proximity to a previously operational port played a key role in its development as one of Mumbai’s major industrial locations. Today, this key location in Mumbai is transforming rapidly into one of Mumbai's premium real estate destinations, with industrial units, dilapidated slums and old buildings being replaced by modern high-rise towers. 

As large industrial land parcels were unlocked here for real estate developments, several developers gravitated towards Chembur and the micro-market started buzzing with new developments. The stage is set for large-scale residential developments to take off in Chembur. The area is rich in open public spaces like Gandhi Maidan, Annabhau Sathe Garden, Diamond Garden, Ambedkar Udyan, Sandu Garden, Tilak Nagar Ground, Jawahar Ground and The Bombay Presidency Golf Club. 

Chembur scores well on connectivity, as it is generously networked through a grid of roads and an established rail network. It lies close to the Eastern Express Highway, which provides excellent connectivity to South Mumbai, the central suburbs and the metropolitan area of Thane. Chembur also enjoys hassle-free connectivity to South Mumbai via the Eastern Freeway, which links RK Studio in Chembur to P D’Mello Road in South Mumbai. It is also well-connected to BKC, the de-facto central business district of Mumbai.

Mumbai’s harbour line suburban railway has a station at Chembur, which provides it with connectivity to CST in South Mumbai and Panvel in Navi Mumbai. This line of the monorail is being extended till Jacob Circle in South Mumbai and is likely to be operational by mid-2018. The metro station of the operational Ghatkopar-Versova-Andheri line is close to Chembur, and provides excellent connectivity to the central and western suburbs.

Due to continuous infrastructure upgrades and rapid growth of commercial developments in the precinct, Chembur’s residential market has been consistently vibrant. Around 14,000 units have been added here in the past five years. Around 40 per cent of the supply has been absorbed already. Of the overall supply in Chembur, nearly 14 per cent is complete. Another 13 per cent of the residential inventory is likely to see completion in the next 12 months or so, implying a further rise in absorption. 

Average residential property prices in Chembur increased from Rs 17,200 per sq ft in the first quarter of 2015 to Rs 17,550 per sq ft in the fourth quarter of 2016. Subsequently, due to the triple tsunami of demonetisation, RERA and GST, residential prices softened marginally. In the third quarter of 2017, they were hovering at around Rs 17,400 per sq ft.

A large share of new real estate developments will take place in Chembur due to its location advantage.  

The writer is head of research, ANAROCK Property Consultants