By Yogesh Mehra
Pune’s Koregaon Park has some very unique real estate market attributes. While this elite locality hosts the homes of some of the city’s established ‘old wealth’, it also boasts of other grades of luxury homes – specifically multi-storey apartment projects which address the luxury aspirations of Pune’s younger set of entrepreneurial success. The city’s Infotech sector, which is firmly ensconced around this high-profile location, has been particularly responsible for spawning the demand for such luxury homes in Koregaon Park.
By Yogesh Mehra
The combination of old and new wealth driving the luxury homes segment in Koregaon Park has exerted considerable upward pressure on the price tags attached to luxury residential properties here. For all that, however, Koregaon Park continues to enjoy a uniquely balanced demographic, refusing to transform into one of those rarefied locations like Boat Club Road which none but Pune’s most financially exalted can afford to call home. Up-and-coming professionals, working couples as well as retiring personnel all have an equal interest in buying homes in this thriving, green, up-market area of Pune which, thanks to its superlative social infrastructure, offers them a superlative lifestyle.
On the one hand, this essential balance that Koregaon Park provides is what makes it tick. On the other hand is the fact that this location work immaculately in terms of its excelent connectivity. Koregaon Park is accesible via several major roads like the Pune-Sholapur Highway, the Mumbai Highway and the Mundhwa-Kharadi Road. Connectivity within Koregaon is provided via North Main Road and South Main Road, and there are several bus stops in the area. Pune Railway station is only 4 kilometers away while the all-important airport is a mere 10 kilometer drive via Samrat Ashok Road.
Prominent educational institutions around Koregaon Park include the National Institute of Fashion Designing, St. Meera Girl’s College, Poona School, Bishop School, Vibgyor and Suvarna School, while Inlaks Budhrani Hospital, the Sadhu Vaswani Missions Medical Complex and KK Eye Institute add an important layer of healthcare availability.
In terms of its residential real estate market, however, Koregaon Park has in the past presented a rather stilted profile. Developers active in this locality have been ignoring the larger mass market and concentrating almost exclusively on the rich and wealthy. Granted, residential supply has been considerably constrained in Koregaon Park because of lack of land parcels for new development. However, the redevelopment of older buildings has so far yielded only luxury residential towers. The affordable housing segment has consistently gotten the short end of the stick, with none of the prominent builders in Koregaon park having shown any willingness to sacrifice the fat profit margins of super-luxury homes.
This unfortunate fact has so far discouraged people with less exuberant budgets to consider Koregaon Park as an option at all, except when it comes to the unexciting choices presented by the area’s resale market. Small, leaky flats in very old buildings, often with no reserved parking, lifts or adequate security have been the only offerings. This is now set to change, with a new affordable luxury housing project now finally being developed on Koregaon Park’s prominent German Bakery Road, which also hosts the high-profile luxury hotel O. Arguably the most accessible of locations here, this quiet, verdantly green corner of Koregaon Park has attracted a 70,000 square foot, high-quality and affordable residential project of 125 units.
This new supply meets the broadest base of demand in this unique area head-on. Consisting exclusively of affordable studio and 1 BHK flats, the project is the result of a partnership between Ashtika Lifestyle and YOLO Homes. While Koregaon Park has no dearth of hyper-expensive, oversized luxury apartment projects, the huge demand for smaller luxury units is now being addressed by this unique new project with advanced lifestyle features, at very affordable ticket sizes.
Mehra is Co-founder & CEO – YOLO Homes, and has over 20 years of real estate industry experience. He has traveled the world to study contemporary residential living formats, and has worked with numerous leading brands. As CEO, he spearheads the YOLO Life franchise of 100% managed and facilitated convenience homes in India.