KSHB back with proposals for projects
|
The board is planning to take the private-public partnership route.
|
MORE TO FOLLOW: The Kerala State Having board flats at Thrikkakara in Kochi.
The government is on an offensive to end the slackness in the housing and real estate sectors by launching projects at a time when private builders seem to think twice before doing so.
Taking a cue from what the housing boards in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and a number of other States have done, the Kerala State Housing Board has planned to take the private-public partnership route to wipe away its liability.
In fact, one of the prime projects at Marine Drive will help the board come out of the red, believes Noel Thomas, Housing Commissioner and Secretary of the board. In a month, consultants will be selected for giving a detailed project report on the Marine Drive plan.
The board, which has about 18 acres of land at the Marine Drive, plans to have a tourism, commercial and housing project. Hotels, office space, convention centre and multiplexes are some of the ideas that have come up. One of the preliminary studies by the board has pointed out that 17 lakh sq.ft of built-up space can be made available.
Since there are environmental concerns, the government held several rounds of discussion before agreeing to the project, Mr. Thomas said.
The prime project will be launched early next year and the full project is likely to be completed by three years, he said.
The housing projects of the board in at least four other places in Ernakulam district are expected to add to the signs of revival that the sector is showing these days. “We believe a revival in the sector by the end of the current financial year,” Mr. Thomas said. The board has planned to invite builders for the construction on a build-share-transfer basis. The bidders should have done a project of that level in the last three years. Such a criterion is to keep the less-experienced ones away.
In Panampilly Nagar, there will be a 32-unit complex, while the project at Kumaran Asan Nagar will be a 36-unit one.
At Thrikkakara, where the board already has project in innovative housing for the working class, there will be yet another project for the middle and higher income groups that will have 60-65 units. At Irimpanam, where the board has some prime roadside land on the side of the Seaport-Airport road, a multi-storey housing complex will have a basement and two floors of commercial area.
SHYAMA RAJAGOPAL
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Property Plus
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
