5 Ways Mixed Use Projects Can Help You Live Better

What if you had a home, an office and a shopping complex, all in the same building? This latest innovation already exists in large structures in Shanghai in China that combine malls, five-star hotels and residential complexes in the same high-rise.

Indian construction companies too are targeting this market especially in Gurgaon, Noida, Bangalore and Mumbai. Supertech's Supernova in Noida, for example, has a tower dedicated for mixed use development with apartments for residence, serviced apartments, hotels, shopping malls, office spaces and recreational centres. There are ten more such projects under construction and in proposal stages. Baani Square in Gurgaon, Brigade Metropolis and Brigade Gateway - both in Bangalore - are already completed.

How do mixed-use projects help you live better?

1. Save travel time: The price of any property is determined by its proximity to flyovers, metro and other railway stations, and even bus stops. If travel convenience is the prime reason for choosing a home, mixed-use developments cut the trouble completely! Such developments that house large corporate houses should score very high among professionals. They can save at least 2-3 hours a day on travel, along with mounting commuting expenses. It also adds a new meaning to work-life balance for many mid-level, high-flying executives.

2. Aid development of new localities: Both developers as well as residents can quickly bet on a new locality in a mixed-use development. If all the amenities like a grocery store and other necessities can be fulfilled in the same building, many would go ahead and invest in a property that might otherwise be unattractive in a new area where you have to buy a home and wait for it to develop. Many such developments require large tracts of land and hence, tend to be in new and upcoming areas. Since most of the social infrastructure comes in-built, the waiting period can be cut.  

3. Assure strong property value: The property value of a home or a commercial space bought in a mixed-use development tends to be a lot stronger than the real estate market. Though the value appreciation and depreciation is yet to be tested by time, the multiple uses and the range of utility will ensure that they are priced better than competition. For retail purposes, super markets can be assured of an almost binding clientele and will also be assured more about their business.

4. Mean low-risk for developer: The developer who plans this kind of development can change and re-work the designs especially on the number of floors dedicated to each category of retail, residential and commercial. This change can be made depending on the market and how it behaves closer to the completion of the project. If the risks of developing a project are lower, that would mean lower interest rates that might impact the end price of the property.

5. Make for intelligent investments: A number of investors looking to buy rental properties too can target such projects. The rentals in such places are good, as workplaces of a number of professionals might be in the same building where their offices might be located in, giving steady assurance to the home owner of rental returns.

(Katya Naidu has been working as a business journalist for the last nine years, and has covered beats across banking, pharma, healthcare, telecom, technology, power, infrastructure, shipping and commodities)