The tech park boom

The year 2010 has spelled good news for Bangalore's real estate scenario. The recessionu00a0 that hit the country in late 2008 and all of 2009, finally seems to have lifted off from the city's property scape.

According to property experts, real estate business in the city is finally on the upswing. Along with real estate, the development of IT hubs and high-tech parks have the potential to catapult India into the next century.

Ask any old Bangalorean and he'll tell you how much the city has changed over the years. That Bangalore is a brand is an accepted fact today. What more proof than that the verb 'Bangalored', which refers to the transfer of IT jobs from the US and UK to India.

The city has achieved a global status today, with many across the world giving their vote to booming businesses in India. Bangalore has transformed from a relaxing destination for pensioners to a high technology hub. The International Technology Parks as their business location in Bangalore is one good example.

Bangalore is home to many national and international software companies with a large skilled work-force, pleasant climatic conditions, a cosmopolitan environment and high quality research and educational institutions.
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The city also has a strong base in telecommunication and other high technology services.u00a0u00a0 Many multinational corporations, especially computer hardware and software giants, have operations in Bangalore.

What is a Tech Park?
It is a term used to describe a variety of efforts to stimulate the development of "entrepreneurial, knowledge-based small and medium-sized enterprises" (or SMEs) within a country. A tech park is one that provides infrastructure and support services for businesses, particularly real estate and office space where a technology transfer function is performed with an economic development function. Tech parks offer global class amenities for offices like uninterrupted power, broadband connectivity, high speed elevators, futuristic steel and glass buildings.

International Tech Park
When the city was already expanding, the visionaries cashed in at the right time. It was in the form of ITPL in Whitefield, Bangalore. The experience of this International Tech Park offered a valuable lesson to Singapore investors. Though they had to face glitches and difficulties in the beginning, but over time, with good business acumen and perseverance, the success is for all of us to see today. International Tech Park undoubtedly has been a catalyst for the progress of the IT sector in Karnataka and has helped in attracting many companies to invest in Bangalore.

The 2,80,000 sq. m. ITPL is located in Whitefield - 12 kms from Bangalore Airport and 18 kms from the City Center. It currently comprises of 5 buildings - 'Discoverer', 'Innovator', 'Creator', Explorer' and 'Inventor' totalling close to 1.9 million sq. ft. of office, production, commercial and retail space. It also has a Residential Tower of 51 apartments.

Electronics City
Electronics City, located in the southern outskirts of Bangalore, is an industrial park spread over 330 acres. Electronics City was formed in 1992. 3M, Hewlett Packard and Siemens are some of Electronic City's clients. Infosys and Wipro, India's 2nd and 3rd largest software companies, are headquartered in Electronics City.
The Software Technology Parks of India was created by the Ministry of Information Technology. There are more than 100 multinational companies in Bangalore. STP was formed by the Karnataka government in 1990 to boost software exports. STPI Bangalore counts among the premier and oldest ISP in India. It was the first center to be Internet-enabled in India. Nortel Networks is a prominent client. To facilitate the growth of software development, in 1992, a satellite earth station was established in the southern city of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka for high speed communication services to facilitate software exports. After which, India's first international gateway and network operations for Information Technology (IT) was established at the STPI in Bangalore's Electronic City.u00a0

Work, Live and Play Culture
ITPL has pioneered the 'work, live & play' culture with its integrated facilities and hi-tech infrastructure, to add value for customers and also become a role model for other IT Parks in the country.
A fully self-contained facility, the ITPL offers opportunities for employees to take part in informal fun activities to let off steam and relax. This contributes to the unique work culture at the Tech Park and takes the burden off tenants when it comes to organising leisure activities. Although the Tech Park is intended to be a place for serious business, it is created on the belief that recreation is essential for stress management, morale and productivity.

As part of its development, the International Tech Park also offers Build-to-Suit (BTS) facilities, enabling customers to enjoy the benefits of off-balance sheet financing and free up valuable resources to focus on their business operations.u00a0

The More the merrier
Another tech park in Bangalore is of the Prestige Group's which houses the Philips Software Centre in Ulsoor. There are many more in the making. A few million square feet of office space is under construction in Bangalore's suburban and peripheral areas right now. The main areas to watch out for are the Devanahalli Airport Road and the Sarjapur Road. This indicates good opportunity for high net worth individuals and housing finance companies looking at investments in the city.

The existing private information technology parks have also begun to add new blocks in their campuses to cater to the rising demand of IT/IT-enabled services companies in the city. Backed by technology sector, the demand for 20,000 to 50,000 square feet floor plate has characterised major transactions in the city. In addition to this, built-to-suit developments have also kept pace in the office space real estate market. The international airport project coming up in the north has increased the demand in the adjoining locations of Yelahanka and Devanahalli.

Some of the prominent deals in the commercial office space real estate are: Symphony - taking up 150,000 square feet built-to-suit accommodation and Manhattan Associates - taking up 80,000 square feet.
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The UKN group has sold 25,000 sq feet of IT space in the Sigma Tech Park, Varthur and 75,000 square feet of IT space at Sigma Grand located on Outer Ring Road.

Sigma Grand is a mixed use development unit comprising retail, commercial and IT space as well as hotel. In another investment deal, Wyse Technologies has invested in 24,000 square feet of warm shell space in Sigma Softtech Park, Whitefield.

RMZ group of builders are also building a tech park. Other ambitious projects are the futuristic UB Towers that will have 950,000 sq ft of space, Hughes Software at its RMZ Eco World complex and the Karnataka Government's plan of making a giant hardware park in Devanahalli, near the city's new international airport, spread over a colossal 4,300 acres. The sky's the limit!