What Makes Integrated Business Parks First Choice For Commercial Office Space

Commercial real estate has been picking up in India as many multinational companies, e-commerce players and even startups are investing in large office spaces. This trend also shows that most of the mega office space deals were made in integrated business parks rather than individual towers. These deals have been made in cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai and Gurgaon.

Integrated business parks are a mini-city in themselves, spread across a few acres housing amenities, which ensure convenience. These amenities include parking towers with ample space, health clubs, restaurants, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), and even wellness centres to aid employees who work long hours or in shifts. Moreover, the latest in trend is the coming of residential and retail spaces in these business parks.

PropGuide explains what makes integrated business parks the first choice for companies to set up offices.

Gen Y employees demand

India is known to be a country of youth, with a large workforce comprising of millennials or the Generation Y. This workforce have a preference for workspaces that have a work-and-play format, offering smart work space as well as recreational activities within the premises. Since a large percentage of the workforce will soon belong to this category, many corporations are bowing to their demands.

Expansion made easy

Building large campuses and maintaining them could be a huge financial burden for companies. This also hinders rapid expansion, making companies choose to ink long-term lease for office space in business parks. Integrated business parks provide companies any opportunity to grow without much of a financial burden.

Closer to home

When a developer builds an integrated business park on the outskirts of a city, the entire area gets a face lift. There is a sudden spurt in the number of residential developments. These developments are build to cater to the demand of large number of employees, who migrate to these areas. This also promotes the concept of walk to work. Cutting down distance between home and office has become a pull factor for many new-age employees who do not conform to travelling long distance for work, a common phenomenon in most metros.

The model

One such model that is promoting integrated business parks along with residential development is Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT city). This project provides work spaces as well as homes for employees. The utilities provided in the city include high-speed internet, data centres, virtual concierge, hi-tech security systems, among others, making it easy for corporations to set up offices.  This concept was first put to practice in China in 2012 and since then a number of such parks have come up across the country. These parks encompass homes, malls as well as offices. The idea is to bring shopping, work and home all in one place.