Look towards the south-east

Once considered ‘outskirts’, Marathahalli, located towards the south east of Bengaluru, is now one of the most preferred residential destinations. As a micro-market, Marathahalli is booming, thanks to rapid development in terms of commercial, residential and office spaces.

Being in the heart of Bengaluru’s IT corridor and strategically positioned at the intersection of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and Varthur Road, Marathahalli has become a hotspot for IT and ITeS sectors.

The locality offers proximity to 50 per cent of the total IT firms. Out of these, 24 per cent are in the Marathahalli ORR periphery and 26 per cent in the adjoining Whitefield ITPL Corridor.
Infrastructure matters

Marathahalli acts as a connector between North, South and East Bengaluru. It is the starting point in the main IT corridor of the city. The primary reason behind the development of the area is the growth of IT hubs around this micro-market.

Professionals working in Whitefield, ITPL and Sarjapur-ORR prefer to live here,because of its proximity, giving impetus to the residential real estate sector here.With the presence of the IT parks and IT SEZs, well-known educationalinstitutions, hospitals, commercial complexes, entertainment hubs, restaurants and malls have also come up in and around the area.

According to a spokesperson from Vaswani Group, “The strategic location, advanced infrastructure and availability of a host of residential choices, from villas to gated communities to luxury and budget apartments, are the major contributing factors that work forMarathahalli; one can eat, work, and play, all with minimal travel time.”

Nagaraj Reddy, chairman and MD, Zonasha Projects and President, CREDAI, Karnataka, adds, “The other advantage is the easy access to CBD and the airport (via the signal-free ORR stretch) as well as signal-free access from Hebbal toSarjapur, making this area attractive. Marathahalli still retains a bit of the ‘old Bangalore’ feel with gated communities; buyers can expect a quality neighbourhood for all age groups.”

There are definite advantages to living here, agree experts. “There are severalfactors at play in making Marathahalli a popular place to reside in, amongprofessionals. Firstly, it is close to the IT hubs of Whitefield, KR Puram andBellandur.

Entertainment centres of Indiranagar and Koramangala aren’t far away either. Secondly, the ORR allows the residents to travel to different parts of the city with ease and speed. And lastly, be it to rent or to buy, Marathahalli has a high number of ready-to-move-in apartments of good quality,” maintains PrashanAgarwal, co-founder, PropTiger.com, Marathahalli seems to have an upper hand over Whitefield and Bellandur; most people seem to prefer investinghere than elsewhere around the IT belt.

Opines Shruti Choudhari, director, Soul Space Projects Limited, “Properties in Marathahalli cost about 10 per cent lower than the ones in Whitefield. Another advantage of the realty market in Marathahalli is its proximity to the ORR, which connects different parts of the city instantly, and it is an added advantage to be living close to it, as it brings down the commuting time considerably.”
A huge six-lane railway over-bridge near Marathahalli Junction connectsKundalahalli area and HAL Airport Road. Location is the biggest attraction while choosing a house in this area. Apart from being surrounded by the thriving IT parks and industries, the locality has emerged as one of the established commercial centres of Bengaluru with companies such as Samsung, Schneider Electric, Deloitte Consulting, Quintiles Technologies, Intel, Motorola, Nokia and Cisco having their base in this suburb.

“With the extension of Namma Metro in its second phase of construction in the locality, Marathahalli is expected to receive further impetus in its property market. The social and physical infrastructure is well adequate with presence of numerouseducational institutions and hospitals,” reckons Juggy Marwaha, managingdirector - South, JLL India.
According to Sheela Prasad, a homemaker and resident of the locality,Marathahalli is an ideal place for families as it provides a great deal of socialengagement. She says, “The kids love the shorter commute time to school. Homemakers, like me, have easy access to grocery stores, hospitals and malls. The proximity to ITPL and adjoining office corridors allows my husband to relaxand spend quality time with the kids.”

No wonder it is a hotspot for realty investors. Juggy explains, “With theon-going massive residential development in Marathahalli, the supply in this micro-market is robust. The locality has more units available for fresh booking than resale. The average rentals for a two-BHK apartment can make you fetch anywhere between Rs 18,000 to Rs 22,000 per month, and for a three-BHK, anywhere between Rs 23,000 to Rs 28,000 per month.”

Problem areas
Marathahalli’s woes are no different from the rest of Bengaluru – chaotic traffic jams, noise and air pollution, poor road planning and inadequate water supply.

Traffic snarls at Marathahalli Junction are quite commonplace and this situation worsens during peak hours. Rues Shruti, “Water level has depleted and there is acute water shortage here. Residents have to depend on tankers from the BWSSB, despite having a connection for water supply. To add to this, there’s poor street lighting, resulting in many dark areas, which can easily become crime hotspots in the locality.”

The Namma Metro project that is expected to cater to Marathahalli inPhase 3 (connecting vast areas of ORR, linking localities such as Sarjapur Road, Marathahalli and Mahadevapura) can be a saviour.

“There are few traffic bottlenecks that need to be addressed with respect to access to Old Madras Road, ITPL and Sarjapur. Also, there are no pavements. Additional planning on slip road - ORR traffic circulation - should also help regulate the traffic more effectively. The proposed Metro connectivity can ease the congestion and reduce transit time,” predicts Nagaraj.
The connectivity, the proximity to IT offices and commercial infrastructurehave thrown Marathahalli wide open for investments in housing, office andcommercial spaces alike, and the supply of residential condominiums is robust in mid-segment and upper-mid segment. There’s every reason to be lookingsouth-east!