Bandra Emerges As Most Preferred Location
Bandra is one of the western suburbs in Mumbai which is highly expensive. However, it is also seeing a status of the most preferred location in Mumbai. Bandra has come a long way from being a large stretch of greenery village clusters, bungalows and villas to being a metropolitan suburb and then a real estate hotspot. There are certain reasons why Bandra is now becoming the most preferred location in Mumbai.
Geography and Social Amenities
Bandra is called the “Queen Of The Suburbs” for a specific reason. It has excellent social amenities as well as infrastructure. The suburb is popular among Page 3 crowd as well as some famous personalities and business people. It is also the fashion capital of Mumbai. It has other upmarket suburbs such as Mahim, Khar and Santacruz as its neighbours.
Bandra has pretty much every social amenity one can ask for. It has several schools, colleges, fine dining restaurants, designer jewellery showrooms, high-end boutiques, convention centres and so on. There are several facilities for recreation such as multiplexes and nightclubs in the vicinity. It has the Swami Vivekanand Sarovar (formerly Bandra Talao) which offers boating facilities. It is also heritage structure.
Bandra is a suburb which has close proximity with South Mumbai, the financial hub of Mumbai. It is also close to other commercial centres in Mumbai. It has the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Bandra East. The Kensington SEZ in Powai can be reached in half an hour and the Andheri SEEPZ can be reached in twenty minutes.
Access and Connectivity
Bandra has excellent connectivity to other parts of Mumbai. It has the Bandra-Worli sea link which connects Bandra to the southern and central part of Mumbai. This sea link has offset a huge percentage of Mumbai traffic from the main roads between Bandra and Worli. Bandra has several arterial roads such as S.V Road, Linking Road, Carter Road and Turner Road. The Western Express Highway passes through Bandra. The suburb also has the Bandra railway station which lies on the western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. It is also connected via the Harbour Line.
Bandra Terminus in Bandra East has regular trains to Northern and Western India. There are also BEST buses as a mode of public transportation system.
Real estate
Though Bandra commands one of the highest property rates in Mumbai, it still has scope for development both in terms of residential and commercial properties. Bandra East specifically has a huge scope for development in terms of residential properties. This is owing to the fact that the suburb is not saturated in terms of infrastructure and open spaces unlike several other suburbs. Bandra is seeing new projects including some luxurious residential projects coming up within the vicinity.
Real estate trends
A 1-BHK apartment in Bandra West costs between Rs. 1.5-2.5 crore while it costs between Rs. 35-40 lakhs in Bandra East. A 2-BHK apartment costs between Rs. 2.25-3 crore in Bandra West and between Rs. 1.5-2 crore in Bandra East. A 3/4-BHK apartment would cost between Rs. 4-8 crore in Bandra West. The rent for a 1-BHK apartment is between Rs. 45,000-50,000 in Bandra West and about Rs. 30,000 in Bandra East. The rent for a 2-BHK apartment is between Rs. 1-1.2 lakhs in Bandra West and between Rs. 45,000-1 lakh in Bandra East. The rent for a 3/4-BHK apartment is between Rs. 85,000-2 lakhs in Bandra West.
Capital value in Bandra East is much lower than its western counterpart. It is an average of Rs. 41,000 per sq.ft in Bandra West whereas just about Rs. 23,300 per sq.ft in Bandra East.
Bandra is becoming a favourite destination for residential accommodation amongst college students and young professionals as it is the “most happening” place in Mumbai. This, coupled with the potential for residential real estate growth in the suburb, is expected to further affect real estate prices in the suburb.
