21 new malls coming up in Pune

Retail is obviously booming in Pune with stores such as Pyramid, Shopper's Stop, Pantaloon, Zodiac, Westside, Lifestyle and Globus vying for space in 21 new malls coming up in the city. Nearly 5 million sq ft of mall space will be ready by 2006 in the city. Another 5 million sq ft is in the planning stage and is expected to be ready by 2010, according to a yet-to-be released survey by property consultant Chesterton Meghraj.

Among the biggest projects in this segment is the Pittie Group's six lakh sq ft mall coming up at Raja Bahadur Mills Compound near Pune railway station.

This project will also house a 30,000 sq ft Fame multiplex. Piramal Holdings's one lakh sq ft Crossroads mall will house a 5-star hotel and several entertainment spots. The Kakade City mall at Kothrud also has a built-in multiplex.

The burgeoning of malls is changing the geography of shopping in the city - retail hubs are coming up in Laxmi Road, Bund Garden Road and Senapati Bapat Marg, close to residential hubs at Kalyani Nagar, Koregaon Park and Magarpatta City. Kondwa, Kothrud, Kolte-Patil and Nagar Road are also emerging as retail hubs.

The entry of big brands has resulted in prices increasing by 20-25 per cent-both for rental and outright purchases. The new hubs look set to catch up with traditional high street areas such as Deccan and M G Road in this regard.

While prices range from Rs 95-110 per sq ft in MG Road and Deccan, in the newer localities realty prices are closing in at Rs 70-80 for Bund Garden, Kothrud and Karve Road. In Nagar Road, prices are ruling in the Rs 60-70 per sq ft range.

Traditional high streets areas such as M G Road and Deccan continue to flourish with two new malls slated to come up there. Among the upcoming retail markets are Bund Garden Road and Nagar Road due to their close proximity to predominantly residential areas such as Kalyani Nagar, Koregaon Park, Boat Club Road, Dhole Patil Road. IT townships such as Magarpatta City, Senapati Bapat Marg and Ganeshkhind Road are seeing the same kind of growth.

Among the notable projects coming up in the next couple of years are International Convention Center (ICC) on Senapati Bapat Marg, Kakade City mall at Kothrud, 44 Sinew Hills at Karve Road and Ishanya at Yerawada.

Say Irfan Duberia, retail expert at Trammell Crow Meghraj, Pune, "The organised retail market in Pune is still at a nascent stage and its growth needs to be controlled in order to be sustainable."

He further added, "Mall developers, in a rush to enter the retail sector, have skipped the learning stage. Factors such as location, product mix, right footfall, right pricing, strong infrastructural support, circulation and differential preferences are hardly kept in mind resulting in unorganised growth at various locations and in any conceivable format."

According to some observers, at the current fast pace of development, supply may outstrip demand and result in many retail outlets lying vacant or getting lesser footfalls because one retailer may eat into other's market share.