Boomtown

From a quiet residential locality to a happening hub. KARTHIK SUBRAMANIAN on the rise and rise of Anna Nagar

The Anna Nagar Tower Park. "Who will live here?" That was exactly how V. Hariharan's wife reacted when the couple first visited Anna Nagar to buy a property in 1970. The place had become famous after an international trade fair was held there in 1968. The fair gave the locality its best and possibly only historic landmark: the Visweswaraya Tower Park better known as Anna Nagar Tower Park. Hariharan, who retired as president of Sundaram Fasteners in 1994, was among the first to settle in Anna Nagar. "Those days, the main road used to extend up to the Kilpauk cemetery and from there on, it was only a mud track. "My wife was naturally upset," he chuckles. Nevertheless, the couple purchased a plot. They paid Rs.10, 000 for one ground in `D' block. Today, even by conservative estimates the land is worth more than Rs.50 lakhs. At a recent meeting of welfare associations, speakers joked that no landowner in Anna Nagar could consider himself middleclass anymore. Upper middle-class? Yes.

The locality by night.

Those who have made the quiet residential area their home know that things are changing really fast. Real estate prices have nearly doubled in the last three years. New shops are springing up by the day on Fourth Avenue, also known as Shanthi Colony Main Road. Independent houses are giving way to multi-storeyed apartments. In short, Anna Nagar has become a city within a city, especially in the last few years. B.Nandakumar, CEO, Dynamic Marketing, reckons that Anna Nagar has become to Chennai what Dadar had been to Mumbai. The boom in real estate, according to him, could be due to the development of the IT sector. Leading business process outsourcing unit, Office Tiger, has established its office in Shanthi Colony recently and several major players are also setting up offices in the Ambattur industrial area branching out from the comfort zone that is Taramani. For a long time now,

Anna Nagar has served as a buffer for industries in Ambattur and Padi.
Companies have provided homes in the area for their top executives. Long-time residents attribute Anna Nagar's rise to three major influences: First, the development of the Ambattur Industrial Estate through the 1980s; second, the moving in of business communities, especially migrants from Sri Lanka, during the mid-1980s; and finally, the much debated regularisation scheme of the Tamil Nadu Government that paved the way for a real estate boom through the late 1990s.

'It was a huge investment, but we have succeeded' R.Anupama, Deergaayush "During this period the changes became evident," says Hariharan. "This was not the quiet residential area anymore." Until the early 1990s, there were many independent houses.

With the government willing to regularise buildings, multi-storeyed apartments started coming up. Though retail stores and supermarkets were launched, the locality needed more than that. The catalyst was the establishment of some of the best schools in the city. That's not all, even healthcare facilities improved here. Today, young entrepreneurs who have recognised the potential of Anna Nagar have started businesses. For instance, a year back, R.Anupama, a long-time Anna Nagar resident, set up Deergaayush Fitness Studios. "It was a huge investment," but she knew that she could succeed. The studio has been able to enrol over 800 persons in the last year. Anna Nagar glows in the night with rows of streetlights lighting up the Second Avenue. No one even remembers that it was nothing more than a dirt road some years ago. *** Flying Hi

One of the interesting success stories of Anna Nagar is that of R. Kiron of Hi-Style. From a tailoring unit to a one-stop shop for all fashion needs, Hi-Style has come a long way. Spread over 25,500 sq. ft, Hi-Style has an annual turnover of Rs.15 crores. It has retained its tailoring unit with over 50 tailors, a rarity in the context of readymade garments dominating the business. "The residents of Anna Nagar value quality service. We have been able to provide that, which is precisely why we have built up a loyal clientele. The purchasing power of the residents has increased exponentially in the last few years," says Kiron. In addition to the existing two complexes, Hi-Style will soon open another.