Vascon to set up shopping mall in Pune soon

To invest Rs 80 cr into the project

Pune is soon to add yet another mall, called Nucleus, to its growing list of such retail points. Nucleus is being set with an investment of Rs 80 crore.

The project is being set up by Vascon Engineers. This is the company's first foray in the mall segment.

"We have been in the real estate business for almost two decades but as far as malls are concerned, Nucleus is our first venture," said C V Shah, president, Vascon Engineers.

Spread over an area of 3 lakh square feet, it will be a 9-storied building with four of them earmarked for shops and the rest five meant for office purposes. Centrally located, with roads on three sides, the shops will have a good visibility.

"We have focussed more on the exposure of the shops, so that people could see them from outside as well," said Shah.

The construction company hopes that the five-storied office space will come as a relief for space-starved corporates in the city. Shah said that the office space will be allotted to corporates, service sector and the professionals on lease basis. However, it will not be ideal for IT firms as they require large premises, added Shah.

The two-level parking in the basement will accommodate more than 200 cars and 300 two-wheelers.

"The parking facility is an essential part and we are in the process of increasing its capacity by employing a mechanical car parking system," explained Shah.

On mobile receptivity, Shah reasoned that Nucleus being a long and narrow building with exposure on three sides, will face no such problem, thereby ruling out any use of the signal repeaters.

Almost 95 per cent of the mall has been booked by big names such as Shoppers' Stop, Cafe Coffee Day, Archies, Sony and Music World. "The central location of Nucleus offers maximum visibility, which is why we chose our outlet to be based here," said Nagesh, CEO, Shoppers' Stop.

The Vascon group is also planning to construct some other malls in Pune and in the areas around.

"We have plans to expand in the coming years," said Shah but did not give any details.