Hyderabad’s Commercial Realty to Bounce Back Soon

The Realty+ MasterClass Webinar -Virtual South Series came to an end on 11 July 2020 with the final episode focused on the city of Hyderabad. Titled “New Horizons In Hyderabad’s Commercial Realty” the E-conclave had experts from the city share their perspectives and insights for the future of working and commercial real estate. Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Advisory & Transactions Services, CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd led the discussion by saying, “Hyderabad no doubt is one of the leading cities after Bengaluru in terms of commercial absorption. Even In terms of strategy formation the Government Hyderabad is leading the pack. The start-up ecosystem has picked up in Hyderabad as the state government has been proactive in terms of upgrading the infrastructure and policy shaping of Hyderabad. In Hyderabad supply could be a challenge in terms of the quantum of FSI available in the City. Going forward occupiers and developers will have to work together to enhance their communication. Workspace is going to become a lot smarter in terms of communication, access, productivity and collaboration. Companies will work on ways of how to bring their employees back to work.” Elaborating on what the government can contribute to the real estate sector Anuj Kapoor, Founder & Managing Director, Stratcap Corporate Advisors LLP said, “The local Hyderabad state government is very proactive in terms of speed and approval with a lot of focus on development of urban infrastructure. I see it this has been a very big support for developers. What they most expect from the government is receiving approvals on time. At least locally I can say the government has been pretty proactive in supporting the real estate with multiple challenges.” Venkata Raman, Vice President Corporate Properties Group, Wells Fargo India & Philippines explaining the expectation of a developer partner from an occupier shared, “We are experiencing an unprecedented situation wherein developers and occupiers need to work together as a collective to tide over the situation successfully. We have to eventually bring back people to work. 2021 is what we are looking at from a short term perspective to stop. What can be done is the change can be brought by developers through innovative designs which will help reduce the risk factor and bring back employees to work.” Sharing an investor’s perspective Mahesh Khaitan, Director, Salarpuria Sattva Group, said, “In this tough time we need to stay positive. We have just lost time not the business. In recent years Hyderabad has come out on top of the real estate industry. It is an established market in terms of housing, connectivity and social infrastructure. So, my suggestion is don't get into the race right now and keep your investor in confidence on all the key decisions. Plan long term target and work towards achieving them. Be transparent with the investor. And keep all lines of communication clear.” Vinamra Srivastava, CEO, Business Parks, CapitaLand India added, “This time is going to accelerate a lot of changes in the industry. The first is digitisation where proptech solutions will increasingly find new use. The second change will come in terms of sustainability and wellness as these are two areas that have gained a lot of traction but will be accelerated during this covid health crisis. Post covid occupiers will continue to treat health and safety with utmost importance.” Speaking of how to stay ahead of the game Vinod Rohira, Managing Director and CEO, Commercial Real Estate & REIT, K Raheja Corp. concluded, “No long is India a back and space for companies. India has demonstrated to the world that we are able to deliver. The world is going to see India as a formidable market with top of the line health protocols and safety standards. It will take time to bring people back to work but it will happen for sure. We need to figure out ways to resume office work just like Hong Kong and China. We just need to redesign and rethink ways to function and ways to accommodate the population back at work. Being safe at work that is the key.” Arun Manikya - Sr Vice president (South Region) - Schindler India emphasized on the need of latest tech systems in commercial IT Parks and Office complexes from touchless operations to Artificial intelligence for building confidence among workforce to return to work.