By: Surabhi Arora & Debajyoti Samal Nashik, popularly known as the ‘wine city’ of India is located around 190 km away from Mumbai and Pune. Besides being a famous pilgrimage centre, Nashik is a well-known industrial district having presence of auto, engineering and electrical industries. Ambad, Satpur, Gonde, Igatpuri and Sinnar are the five major industrial zones developed by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in Nashik. These zones house some of the renowned manufacturing units such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra, CEAT, Glaxo etc. In terms of infrastructure, Nashik scores above average and has adequate road transport system, ample water supply and good social infrastructure such as educational facilities. The city has also witnessed huge infrastructure investments especially in the development of National Highways. As all other major cities have traditionally grown around water sources, the Godavari River has given the growth direction to the city. The old city consists of locations like Raviwar Peth and Panchawati located around the banks of the river. Locations adjoining the old city like College Road and Gangapur Road are the prime areas. However, with the development of highways eventually the growth has been witnessed in areas close to the Mumbai-Agra National Highway (NH-3) and Nashik-Pune National Highway (NH-50). Localities such as Pathardi, Adgaon, Nashik Road and Deolali Camp are undergoing brisk real estate development. As the overall residential demand is undergoing a slowdown, Nashik has also witnessed a slow demand in recent years however, end user demand remained stable. The city’s residential land scape is changing and the villas and row houses are being taken over by apartments due to changing preferences of buyers. With the changing real estate scenario of Nashik, the developers are gearing up to meet the new buyer requirements of bigger homes with all the amenities such as swimming pools, clubs and greenery. Some of the active developers in Nashik are Thakkers Developers, Archit Group, Karda Constructions. Samraat Group Nishant Builders, Nayantara Estate Shree Buildcon, Deepak Builders & Developers, Mittal Developers, Lalwani Constructions etc. The Nashik market has the advantage of good construction quality and a price point that is still much lower, which is ideal as a second home destination. Lately, the concept of townships is gaining ground. Much like Pune, the city has witnessing premium offerings from some of the best-known property developers. With the exception of a few prime areas, residential rates are in the range of Rs 3,000- Rs 4500 per sq ft. In areas, such as Gangapur and College Road, property prices have gone up to Rs 6,000 per sq ft. Though there has also been an increase in luxury home projects in some pockets coming up, the popular places to invest are the new developing suburbs, like Anandwalli, Indirangar, Pathardi, Makhmalabad and Pune Road. The rental value of the area is still in its nascent stage since the market is still in the initial stage of growth. Going forward, Nashik, by virtue of its strategic location and growing economic activity has the potential to emerge as a smart city. With its affordable price range the city has tremendous potential for affordable housing. — The authors are respectively Associate Director and Manager, Colliers International
