Ghodbunder Road offers range of affordable & premium properties

Over the past decade, Thane has grown from a small suburban town on the outskirts of Mumbai to a self-sustaining metropolis. It is now a city with sprawling flyovers, uninterrupted highways and wide roads. The Thane suburb now has integrated townships and high-rise towers, and its commercial real estate sector has progressed in tandem.

With a property price surge seen in all locations in and around Mumbai between 2010 and 2012, Ghodbunder Road in Thane held its own as a preferred residential destination for price-sensitive home seekers, due to the relatively lower rates when viewed against core Thane city. Today, Ghodbunder Road is seeing rapid appreciation.

This location has a lot of fresh inventory, driven by several infrastructure initiatives and good connectivity in the pipeline. The development authorities have planned a monorail network to serve as a feeder system to a Metro project planned in Thane. The MMRDA has finalised a Metro corridor, extending from Wadala to Kasarvadavali on Ghodbunder Road.

In addition, the road provides quick accessibility to Mira Road from Thane, and to other micro-markets such as Mulund, Bhandup and Ghatkopar. Ghodbunder Road is approximately 20 km long and links the two main arterial roads of Mumbai, the Eastern Express Highway, starts at Sion and terminates at Thane, while the Western Express Highway, starts at Bandra (East), becomes the National Highway leading to Gujarat.

Due to the rapid development, the area has attracted many reputed developers, leading to a surge in launch of many affordable and premium housing projects. Ghodbunder Road is interesting to developers primarily due to the easy availability of large land parcels. From affordable apartments to premium properties, the area offers a wide assortment of housing options.

Capital values of newly launched multi-storey apartments vary between Rs 40 lakh to Rs 2.5 crore. Some of the reputed developers present on this stretch are Runwal Group, Puraniks Builder, Harmony Lifestyles Group, Vijay Group, Rosa Group and DS Group. The average property prices of this region range between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per sq ft, and annual appreciation has been to the tune of 7-10 per cent, depending on the specifications of the project and amenities offered.

Ghodbunder Road is seeing a lot of commercial development. Apart from the coming MGM IT Park, new corporate offices and other commercial establishments such as retail outlets, malls, showrooms and banks are mushrooming all over. The Kapurbawdi Flyover has become operational and considerably reduced traffic congestion in this region. The proposed monorail, which will connect Thane to the Western suburbs in its next phase, is yet another major draw.

The author is COO - business & international director, JLL India