Chandigarh's Sector 17 will soon have to vie with a formidable rival for the status of the city's commercial hub. Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) has conceived a comprehensive plan to develop a City Centre in Sector 62 of Mohali, which will be an alternative to Chandigarh's existing best known business district.
PUDA has appointed CB Richard Ellis, the global real estate consultant, to prepare a marketing and development strategy for the project.
Unlike Sector 17 of Chandigarh, the City Centre will provide flexibility for customisation to large corporate houses, branded retail outlets and hotels and restaurants to project their up-market image.
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To be completed in different phases, the 250-acre City Centre project is expected to be ready by 2020. The first module of the new city will be ready by 2005.
According to a report prepared by C B Richard Ellis, the project will cover over 45 lakh square feet of built-up area, including a city hall, a museum, a library and the Leisure Valley, an entertainment-cum-retail centre along a water stream that runs through the northern part of the site.
The first phase of the project will cover 11 lakh square feet of built-up area, including 6.25 lakh square feet of office complex, retail space of 2.5 lakh square feet, 1 lakh square feet of civic centre, 1.57 lakh square feet of residential complex and a flex space of 1 lakh square feet to absorb the spillover demand from any sector.
The hotel and hospital projects for the first phase have been already undertaken and are in various stages of implementation, says the report.
Chandigarh supplies commercial space of approximately 82 lakh square feet, out of which about 33 lakh square feet of office and retail space is provided by Sector 17 alone.
It is expected that a large number of offices will move from Chandigarh to the new centre at Mohali. The Punjab government proposes to relocate 60-70 per cent of its offices to the City Centre where office space will be tailor-made to its space requirements.
"The shift will increase the efficiency level by providing consolidated space and relieving cramped conditions. This is necessary to provide the multiplier effect for growth, which the region is actively seeking," the report says.
The report points out that the project will not only improve the socio-economic condition of Mohali, but will also improve
the investment climate of the state.
The financial feasibility study undertaken for the City Centre incorporates easy leasing