Surat gets a new City with upmarket comforts at affordable prices

GROUND REALTY

Welcome to City Light, the once barren land which is now crowded with skyscrapers of all sizes, colours and designs.

Just five years back, the name City Light drew a blank in the textile and diamond city of Surat.

But aggressive development by builders of Surat has catapulted City Light located in the southwest periphery into the fastest growing area of the city.

And even before the City Light area could reach its saturation point, the builders have already started developing the new City Light across the Udhna-Magdalla road.

The other encouraging news for the area is the development of the Surat airport by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) which may further push prices skywards.

Most of the multistoried towers here are podium towers with commercial premises on the ground, mezzanine and first floors and residential flats on the top.

Leading builders of Surat including Jeetu Modi, Manhar Kakadia, Gopal Dokaniya of Western Construction, Prakash Aswani of the Ascon Group, Surendra Sheth, an old and well known name are all targetting the City Light area with a plethora of schemes and projects.

Rates here depend on the building and the location. "If you have your flat or a commercial premise on the main 80 feet road then the rates are different as compared to a property tugged away in the interiors," says Siddharth Sheth, a businessman.

Rates for flats work out to be in the range of Rs 600-1,000 per square feet, while that of commercial premises start from Rs 2,500 per square feet.

Two of the biggest and the most well known projects are the Aashirwad Township and China Town. While Aashirwad Township is a combination of both high rises in the City Light and bungalows in the new City Light area, China Town offers palatial bungalows in different ranges for the well heeled.

Neminath and Surya buildings are the two well known addresses of City Light.

City Light is still in the development mode with lot of flats and commercial properties still awaiting buyers.

"If you compare City Light with Bhatar Road or Adajan or the new Rander Road, you will find that a large number of the structures are vacant. I don't know whether people have purchased properties here for investment purpose," says Satyajit Sheth, a management consultant, who has been residing in the City Light area since the past four years.

There are several reasons for the fast development of City Light. First is its proximity to Atthwa Lines and Ghod Dod Roads, the two main posh areas of Surat.

With builders turn aggressive buyers of old bungalows and buildings at these two posh roads, many of the residents sold their bungalows and buildings to these builders and opt to move out to City Light, which was much more greener and open and yet was very close to both these roads.

"I would say City Light is a part of Atthwa Lines and Ghod Dod Roads," says Bhadresh Shah, a builder and chairman of the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI).

Even Satyajit Sheth who was residing in the Santosh Apartment on the main Ghod Dod Road shifted to City Light after Jayesh Desai, a builder bought the entire building, broke down the structure and set up a posh commercial complex in its place.

"The unique selling proposition of City Light is that it is an upmarket area and not too costly. You are also close to a posh area like Ghod Dod," Sheth said.

Secondly, the Bhatar Road which runs perpendicular to Ghod Dod Road, the Ghod Dod Road and the Atthwa Lines are almost saturated or beyond the reach of many.

"There is migration or in other words upscaling for most of the Marwari and Sindhi families residing on the Bhatar Road as City Light is viewed as an upmarket area," says Sheth.

Most of the Marwari and Sindhi families engaged in the textile business are making a beeline for City Light as their community bhavans (head quarters) are located in this area.

Be it the Agarwal Samaj Bhawan or the Maheshwari Bhawan or the Terapanth Samaj almost all these sub-sects have set up huge buildings in the City Light area.

Ojas Desai, a professor in the BBA department of the SPB English Medium College, disposed off his property in the Union Park located on the main Ghod Dod Road and moved to Neminath building one of the most respected buildings in City Light.

And from here now Desai has moved on to a bungalow in China Town in the new City Light area.

No wonder then the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has also planned to set up its Rs 30 crore mega project of a science centre, museum, planetarium and Amphi theatre in the heart of the City Light area.

"City Light is a developing area offering many options," says SMC standing committee chairman Shankerlal Chevli.

Another qualification of City Light is its proximity to the South Gujarat University (SGU).

"Why only the SGU, if you take the Udhna-Magdalla Road then City Light is well connected with the railway stations of Surat and Udhna," says Bhadreshbhai Shah.

However, according to Shah, City Light was still not the number one fastest developing area as the Adajan-New Rander Road belt continued on the numero uno position.

Builders expect the prices to appreciate further once the work on the Surat airport picks up momentum.