Google's Campus To Boost Realty Growth In Hyderabad

Google Inc. is said to build its largest campus outside the United States in Hyderabad. The internet giant plans to build an office spread over two million sq.ft., with 13,000 employees by 2019 and an investment of Rs. 1,000 crore. Google will get 7.2 acres in the Hyderabad IT corridor for the campus. Google also agreed to make Telangana the first Indian state to have Google Streetview, beginning with Hyderabad. If the plan materializes, presence of Google campus in Hyderabad will not only reshape the city but also influence the price of property in Hyderabad.

Future prospects of commercial development and upcoming residential apartments in an area, obviously, drives up real estate prices. Realty prices are high in localities where there are corporate campuses. For instance, in Mountain View, California, US, where Google has the largest corporate headquarters complex, office space costs more than two-and-a-half-times the US’s national average. Rental rates would also rise. The rental rates in Silicon Valley, California, for instance, are extremely high and most IT firms cannot afford it. The price of real estate, including plots and apartments in Hyderabad, is likely to rise in the surrounding areas. Site development and building around Google campus may turn more aggressive in the coming years.

Corporations are likely to build their campuses where real estate is very valuable. The reason, of course, is that urban areas -- where good restaurants, metro lines, highways, reputed schools and hospitals, nightclubs and cultural attractions -- play an important role in attracting employees, just like high salaries and other benefits do.

A city within a city might emerge around Google campus. Though IT firms claim that talent and people matter more than real estate to attract the right people, it is important to build campuses where people would be happy to live. Gachibowli, for instance, is the major IT suburb of Hyderabad and is close to the HITEC city, another IT hub. Microsoft, Amazon, Franklin Templeton Investments, Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) , Brigade Corporation and Bank of America also have offices in Gachibowli.

The Google campus in Hyderabad would also help other corporations, especially IT firms, to build campuses around it. This would facilitate people to jointly share the costs of infrastructure, public utilities and many such avenues in the neighborhood. This might even promote a walk-to-work culture in the area, leading to greater energy efficiency and conservation.