Anna Salai restoration and redevelopment: A new insight
Anna Salai, formerly known as Mount road, is located in the center of the CBD (Central Business District) of Chennai. This road is one of the most important arterial road of Chennai which is more than 400 years old. Its history dates back to the British times when the road was used for horses and bulls driven carts. The road originates in Cooum Creek, near Fort of St.George and extends up to the Kathipara Junction in Guindy. The stretch also hosts the famous landmarks of Chennai during 1970s and 1980s namely the LIC building and Spencers. It’s also the house of many commercial establishments like The Hindu, The Mail, Oxford University press, Panagal building, Town and Country planning department etc.
Anna Salai has lost its old charm. One of the main reason for this is the increase of the volume of vehicles that flows through this stretch. There are even consistent traffic jams which makes the road blocked for several minutes to even hours at unfortunate times. A survey says that the volume of the vehicles passing through the stretch for daily commutation increases by 1,000 every day. Lack of parking facilities by the establishments in the stretch also made business firms lose interest to make establishments here.
The recent metro project that has been proposed is expected to reduce the burden of traffic on the stretch and thereby might bring back the life and restore the former glory. But just the metro lines won’t be enough to bring its sheen back to full extent. A full scale redevelopment is required along the stretch owing to the reason that most of the buildings in this stretch were established before the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) came into existence. With 100 % plot coverage and FSI exceeding double the amount of what is permitted now the civic infrastructure is in a complete mess. Redevelopment proposals are suggested by CREDAI (Confederation of real estate development Authority of India) has been put into thorough consideration.
Office spaces in Anna Salai are mostly B and C grades which makes the tenants hesitant to rent them. The main reason behind this is lack of parking space and this is where metro is going to help the redevelopment process. Most of the civilians are expected to switch from their private vehicles to public transport thereby reducing the amount of vehicles used and reducing the amount of space needed for parking. This will help the offices to restructure their buildings to A grade offices. Most developers and office space owners are also support to this redevelopment proposals.
One can expect Anna Salai soon to transform into the most demand attracting, central business district of world class quality. The transformation will boost real estate market and rental yield all along the stretch.
