Thane – Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR)

THANE CONNECTIVITY

Situated to the north-east of Mumbai, Thane was the host to India’s first ever train connectivity route. Thane has undergone a makeover from being an industrial town with affordable residential housing to a now-favoured IT and relatively upmarket residential destination. Various infrastructural initiatives by the government executed under the aegis of the nodal development authority, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), have greatly enhanced the connectivity of Thane to the prime business hubs of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. 

Office Market
In 1990s, Thane was largely an industry-intensive zone. However, post mid-1990s; with conversion of Wagle Industrial Estate into an IT zone, it started witnessing IT related developments. Ghodbundar Road, currently a well-established office location, started developing post mid-2000s when focus on infrastructure building gained prominence in Thane. Currently, IT/ITeS companies constitute a major portion of the occupiers of commercial office spaces here. Grade A developments include G Corp Tech Park, Kalpataru Prime, Dosti Pinnacle and Neptune Element developed by G Corp Group, Kalpataru, Dosti Group and Neptune Group respectively, while a large portion of the commercial real estate is also in the form of Grade B buildings. With there being a limited number of large office occupiers, demand is seen in the form of full or partially occupied floors in the buildings. Thane has about 4.5 million sq ft of Grade A office space which constitutes about 5.3% of the total stock of the city. Good rail connectivity allowing ease of commuting of workforce and well established infrastructure drives the office space demand of this submarket. Ample supply has kept rents in this submarket stable, attracting occupiers to lease large volume of office space.

Residential Market

Thane is well-connected with other parts of Mumbai Metropolitan Region via rail and road. Majority of the residential properties in this location were low rises prior to 2000s. However, with a gradual improvement in infrastructure, a host of reputed developers took an active interest in developing projects here. Currently, developers like Sheth Developers, Dosti Group, Rustomjee, Hiranandani and Kalpataru are focusing on large-scale development with high-rise structures. Few of their prominent projects are Sheth Vasant Lawns, Dosti Vihar, Rustomjee Urbania, Hiranandani Estates and Kalpataru Siddhachal. These developments have resulted in reduction of price gap between Thane and Western Suburbs of Mumbai. Thane offers housing for high-income and middle-income groups. It is witnessing increased interest from investors due to its good infrastructure and connectivity. Ghodbunder Road in Thane witnesses high residential sales on the back of availability of land parcels and also as it is wellconnected to the Eastern & Western Express Highway in Mumbai. In addition to this other precincts witnessing residential developments are Old Thane, Pokhran Road and Pune Highway. Mumbai- Thane Capital Value Change (1H09 = 100) 2H13 184 1H14 188 2H14 201 Thane now offers good leisure and entertainment options with operational malls such as Korum Mall, Eternity Mall and R Mall. These malls house large national retailers like Star Bazaar, Westside, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Reliance Trends and Globus along with various international brands. With the opening of Viva City Mall (by Sheth Developers), which will be the largest mall in Thane, residents will have a wider range of options for shopping and entertainment.

Infrastructure

Thane is well connected with the Andheri and Bori via road and rail. The eastern express highway and LBS Marg connect it with eastern suburbs while the western express highway and Thane Belapur Road connect it to western suburbs and Navi Mumbai respectively. Two mono railway lines are also proposed which will connect Thane with Dahisar and Kalyan respectively. Currently work is in progress for seven flyovers connecting Thane with Dahisar, Ghodbunder and Bhiwandi. Internal transportation system is very good and with government initiative like SATIS (Station Area Traffic Improvement Scheme), commuting has improved. Social infrastructure is also in place with existence of hospitals, education institutes and hotels. While Jupiter Hospital, Bethany Hospital and Hiranandani Hospital are the prominent hospitals, Dr VN Bedekar Institute of Management Studies and KC College of Engineering are some of the reputed education institutions in Thane. The Fortune Park and United 21 are the star hotels located in Thane.


OUTLOOK 

Thane has witnessed strong development in the past two decades. From an industrial zone, it has changed to a commercial zone with strong IT/ITeS presence. The government has taken many initiatives to improve the infrastructure in the region and that has attracted a host of developers to Thane. With the improved connectivity with western and eastern suburbs and Navi Mumbai, Thane is fast becoming a sought-after residential and commercial destination. Growing demand from cost conscious occupiers, Thane will eventually emerge as one of the prime business districts of Mumbai. In such a scenario, rental and capital values are expected to increase by almost 50% in next five years from the last trough in 2009. While the residential property prices have surged in past few years, we expect it to continue its northward movement on the back of healthy demand. Thane is expected to witness strong residential demand due to increasing workforce in the sub-market.

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