Megaproject: Marg Swarnabhoomi -- 230m+ Landmark Tower and 1000 acre SEZ city

[Jai]

Chennai has finally joined the skyscraper race! (kind of*)

*technically located 65 kms from Chennai proper, but a nodial city nonetheless



Introducing Marg Swarnabhoomi, a 1,000 acre megaproject developed by Marg Ltd. with HOK, US as the primary architects featuring a ~230 meter tall landmark observation tower.

Salient points:
- Developed by Chennai-based realty company Marg Ltd.
- Located at Seekinankuppam in Kanchipuram between Chennai and Pondicherry. Total size 1,000 acres, including 612 acres in 2 SEZs.
- Will employ 125,000 people in various industries, with an emphasis on economically empowering the local scheduled castes and tribes.
- Will be developed in 3 phases, with completion dates in 2009, and 2011.
- Will feature a ~230m observation tower and commercial buildings designed by HOK, US.


^ Landmark observation tower


^ View of services and residential zone


^ Services zone


^ Services zone


^ Services zone

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Views and plan of the city :





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An article giving some background on the project:
Swarnabhoomi Chennai by 2011

Friday, February 08, 2008

CHENNAI: Chennai-based realty company, Marg Ltd will be investing $ 400 million in a mega infrastructure project 'Marg Swarnabhoomi'.

To be located on the ECR between Chennai and Pondicherry, the proposed city will be spread over more than 1,000 acres. It will include two notified Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for the multiservices and engineering sector, including auto ancillaries.

The two SEZs will occupy an area of 612 acres and would generate a revenue of $ 1 billion over the next 5 years, according to Chairman and Managing Director, GRK Reddy.

Reddy told journalists on Thursday that in the first 3 years, Rs 600 crore would be spent on the project, of which Rs 400 crore would be funded through debt and the balance through equity.

In the next phase, Rs 1,000 crore would be raised through customer collections and leased discounting. "The project will create direct employment for 1,00,000 people and indirect employment for about 25,000 people," said Reddy.

Designed by architects HOK, USA, the project would be completed in 3 phases - the first by December 2009, phase II in March 2011 and fully by December 2011.

One to 3 bedroom low cost housing of Rs 2,000 per sq ft is planned for IT and engineering professionals. "The city will have a 10 million litres per day desalination plant that will use sea water.

Under social infrastructure, 15,000 houses, a 200 room hotel, 200 bed hospitals, schools, educational institutions as well as offices will be set up," added Executive Director, B G Menon.

About 60 per cent of the population around the SEZs are believed to be from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Marg in partnership with CII has initiated a grassroots skill development initiative under which 5,000 rural youth are being imparted pre-employment skill and industrial training for placement in companies. Marg has allocated Rs 1 crore for this programme.

Let's use this thread to compile news and updates on this project.

• Marg Swarnabhoomi website
• Marg Ltd. website
• HOK Architects website -- Asia projects


Thanx to Arul Murugan, Anniyan, IndiansUnite, JudishRaj for compiling information and renderings in the other threads.

Cheers,
Jai

[Jai]

Some motes on my estimation of the landmark observation tower's height:



I assumed that the tower uses the Indian building standard of 1 floor = 3.5 meters high. From this, you can extrapolate the height of the rendering.



Note that observation tower floor heights may be very nonstandard, but this method can give a good thumbnail estimate nonetheless.

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Height at spire: ~230 meters, or equivalent of a normal 65 story building. (For a reference as to how tall this is, the Imperial Towers in Mumbai are 249m high.)

Height of tower structure: ~185 meters, or equivalent of a normal 52 story building.

Height at observation floors: ~113 meters, or equivalent of a normal 45 story building.


The tower may be as high as 75 floors, as Anniyan mentioned:

Originally Posted by Anniyan

Is this project by any chance related to Mr.Chitty Babu's skyscraper plan revealed at a property exhibition last year ?

The news came in the Deccan Chronicle special property (print) edition and our forumer JudishRaj posted the news here.
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We hope it will be seventy five storied structure, which will have a routine revolving restaurant to give it a panoramic view of the metro and surroundings,' said T.Chitty Babu, Managing Director, Akshaya Homes, a leading construction company in south India. Mr.Babu said that he has formed a consortium of ten builders and they have almost worked out the details. If we get the clearance from the government agencies, it is a matter of time before we officially announce the launching of the project.

Mr.Babu, himself a construction engineer with an impeccable track record, wants Chennai city to have something unique which can rival the best in the World. Even after the liberalization and opening up of the economy, we had to be content with the 14 storied LIC building in the Mount Road as the city's tallest structure. It can not go on like this. We want to build the tallest skyscraper of the country, if not of Asia, in our Chennai,' said Babu. The proposed building could be somewhere in the Old Mahapalipuram Road. 'We are focusing it as a commercial complex. There are many clients waiting in the wings to move over to the city's first skyscraper.' said Babu.
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[Prodigist]

I have a question... Whats an observation tower doing 65 km from the city proper??? Is there anything special nearby?

[ankushgupta]

Is it proposed or Under-construction??

[Jai]

Originally Posted by Prodigist

I have a question... Whats an observation tower doing 65 km from the city proper??? Is there anything special nearby?

Good question. Probably couldn't get clearance in the city? Regardless, it does seem that they anticipate that this project would be the catalyst to further development in the area. The project plans seem to suggest that.

Its located just off East Coast Road between Chennai and Pundi, so it will definitely be a tourist draw.

Originally Posted by ankushgupta

Is it proposed or Under-construction??

Proposed right now.

[zhiemi]

I like the design of the tower, very sleek.

[Fusionist]

Its all a bit prematur eto celebrate. n most cases the planners create a big hype through such renders to attract buyers. When it comes to actual building the exrtravagent part would go. I don't think the observation tower would really be built as part of Marg Swarnaboomi.

[IndiansUnite]

The apr ed. of Construction World magazine carries an article on GRK reddy and Marg Swarnabhoomi.

Here's the main page of the article. The second page which probably carries more info and renderings of the project hasn't been uploaded since they only upload like 40% of the magazine due to obvious revenue issues.

[Fusionist]

Also this project iwll put added burden on the already overstretched OMR & ECR. The raiway extension to Mahabalipuram is a must when this project comes through. People living in sub-urbs should from the beggining get the habit of using public transport and not thier cars when going into the city.

[MA Eswaran]

Lot of fuss is created when projects are just in drawing room stage.

When actual construction starts only we will know the fate of such projects given the change of political and economic scenes so frequently

We are hearing cuddalore refinery project for the past 15 years. Cheyyur thermal project for the past 5 years. Projects are dying in the infant stage due to several reasons viz land acquistion problem, marketability problem etc

[Jai]

Here's the high res version of the rendering posted in cw:

[Arul Murugan]

Booking started?!



From TOI

[TdotTdot]

hey will the landmark tower act as a tv tower?

[bhopalus]

this is like a god-project for chennai...too bad there's no way that 230 m tower will get built since there's absolutely no reason it should be built (a sightseeing tower for an area that has no sights around it??).

and how far is this from chennai city proper? I hate this nonsense we have in india where all the nice towers and stuff come up in random patches here and there. imagine if all of NCR's towers were in one area instead of spread out in the those suburbs. that'd be awesome. same with chennai

[bhopalus]

MARG PAT up 125%

Driven by profitable growth and strategic focus, MARG Limited (formerly MARG Constructions Limited), India’s fastest growing diversified infrastructure development company, today declared total income of Rs. 27,840 Lakhs for the year ended March 31, 2008, an increase of 97 percent as compared to Rs. 14,153 Lakhs earned in 2006-2007. The company’s net profit after tax (PAT) for 2007-2008 stood at Rs. 6,744 Lakhs, an increase of 125 percent from Rs. 2,991 Lakhs in the previous year.

Subject to the approval of the shareholders, the Board has proposed to issue dividend at 20% on its equity share capital.

Commenting on the company’s performance in the year ended March 31, 2008, Mr. G. R. K. Reddy, Chairman & Managing Director, MARG Limited, said, “Our results for the year under review are very encouraging. Despite the challenging business environment, our net profit after tax has increased by a healthy 125 percent. Our vision is to continue to improve on our position as the country’s fastest growing diversified infrastructure development company. We intend to expand our horizons, increase our spread across the length and breadth of the country and enhance our competitiveness in the coming years.”

The total income for the Quarter ended 31st March 2008 was Rs. 12,483 Lakhs, an increase of 202 percent over Rs. 4,136 Lakhs for corresponding quarter of the previous year 2006-2007. The company’s net profit after tax (PAT) for the Quarter ended 31st March 2008 increased by 620 percent to Rs. 3,943 Lakhs as compared to Rs. 548 Lakhs for corresponding quarter of the previous year 2006-07.

MARG Limited announced the launch of its mega infrastructure project – “MARG Swarnabhoomi” in February 2008. MARG Swarnabhoomi, spread over 1000 acres and strategically located off the burgeoning East Coast Road, is designed as a global standard model city. This city includes two notified Special Economic Zones for “Multi Services” and “Engineering sector including auto ancillaries”. This mega project of MARG is expected to generate US$ 1 billion economy over the next five years through a self sustaining business model. MARG Swarnabhoomi is anticipated to generate employment for over 1 lakh people once the SEZs are fully developed. The project has been designed by world renowned architects HOK, USA to meet international standards. The city will offer state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities such as superior civic infrastructure, 24-hrs water supply, optic fibre telecom & broadband connectivity, ample provision for residential units, power supply from the state electricity grid, sewage treatment and desalination plants. The housing options at MARG Swarnabhoomi will range from affordable homes to luxury villas, with social infrastructure including educational institutions, wellness centres, shopping malls and a first of its kind destination mall. Also, for sport enthusiasts, the project will encompass international standard golf course, facilities for sports and water sports.

MARG Limited’s other ongoing projects include the development of an all weather, deep- water lagoon type Sea Port in Karaikal, which will unleash the potential of the hinterland and will cater to the industrial belt of central Tamil Nadu. The ‘Karaikal Port’ is emerging as a successful example in Greenfield port development. Towards achieving the same, MARG has invested in a non-propelled cutter-suction dredger, MARG Cauvery that would be able to dredge at depths in the range of 5 to 25m. Another notable project of MARG is the recently announced ‘Tapovan’, comprising of thematic luxury villas. Positioned as the Silent Garden with 90 villas spread over an area of 77 acres, Tapovan is located at Pavanjur on the East Coast Road near Chennai.

Other forthcoming projects of MARG include the ‘Riverside Mall cum Business Hotel’, an integrated complex flanked by a serene river on one side and a 3 way entry-exit facility. The project will feature a Mall, a Business Hotel, and a Multiplex. ‘Oakwood Residence’, a Serviced apartment project of MARG on the IT Corridor in Chennai, will have 175 dedicated serviced apartments. In May 2008, MARG Limited announced the launch of ‘Rajakamangalam Thurai Fishing Harbour’ at Rajakamangalam Thurai, in Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, based on a Public Private Partnership model. The company plans to invest Rs 45 crores in the project, which is expected to come in 40 acres of land. Once fully developed, the fishing harbour project will offer direct employment to around 8000 people and is expected to be fully operational by October 2010.

Reaffirming the belief that growth has to be inclusive, MARG had partnered with CII in June 2007 to initiate a Grassroots Skill Development Initiative (GLSDI) project in Cheyyur Taluk, the area surrounding MARG Swarnabhoomi. This innovative project covers pre-employment skill training to cover 5000 unskilled workers by 2008. The second phase of the project includes industry specific training. MARG had allocated Rs. 1 crore for this social program. Recently, as part of the GLSDI programme, MARG in association with CII jointly organised the first-ever Rural Job Fair at MARG Swarnabhoomi in Cheyyur Taluk, near Chennai. Presently over 850 rural youth have successfully completed the GLSDI pre-employment skills training which prepared them for the world of work. A total of 650 youngsters turned out for the job fair and 450 of them were given job offers. Fifteen companies from various sectors participated in the job fair.

so now we just have to wait until december 2009 to see how this thing turns out

[TechCity]

MARG Navratna Phase - 1 construction started.It specified in the news section of its site(http://www.margswarnabhoomi.com/)

MARG Navratna Phase - 1 at Swarnabhoomi
MARG Swarnabhoomi presents MARG Navratna, an exquisitely crafted residential apartment complex, Contemporary and minimalistic in both architecture and landscaping, MARG Navratna balances living spaces with the common areas.

MARG Navaratna delivers the perfect setting for a word-life balance, where professional growth happens along with the personal. Replete with all the modern amenities MARG Navratna is the kind of home that you dream about. Spread over an area of 4.29 acres, MARG Navratna comes replete with:

300 well-designed apartments
100% DG Back-up power for Common Lighting and Lifts
Landscaped Park on Open Space Reservation Area
Club House with Swimming pool, Gymnasia and Multi-purpose Hall
Covered Car parking and Separate visitors Car Parking.
Tentative Completion: 18 months from launch

[bhopalus]

they massively scaled down the project and that tower is now gone and the entire project is TINY now

http://www.margswarnabhoomi.com/master-plan.html

[sudheeshnairs]

It is a pity that the residential towers are now 4 floors only. I dont think FAR is an issue since plenty of land is available in the campus. No where else in India you will find big developments going in for low rise apartments. Even if the FAR is below 2, they could go at least 10-12 floors, and make more land available as open space. This is a criminal waste of space. Perhaps Kannan Infratech could explain the rationale behind this based on the local rules.

I also didn't find the project now in HOK website link which Jai had provided earlier.

[kannan infratech]

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

It is a pity that the residential towers are now 4 floors only. I dont think FAR is an issue since plenty of land is available in the campus. No where else in India you will find big developments going in for low rise apartments. Even if the FAR is below 2, they could go at least 10-12 floors, and make more land available as open space. This is a criminal waste of space. Perhaps Kannan Infratech could explain the rationale behind this based on the local rules.

I also didn't find the project now in HOK website link which Jai had provided earlier.

I presume that it is because of marketing problem and the cost.

[Madras_Fan]

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

It is a pity that the residential towers are now 4 floors only. I dont think FAR is an issue since plenty of land is available in the campus. No where else in India you will find big developments going in for low rise apartments. Even if the FAR is below 2, they could go at least 10-12 floors, and make more land available as open space. This is a criminal waste of space. Perhaps Kannan Infratech could explain the rationale behind this based on the local rules.

I also didn't find the project now in HOK website link which Jai had provided earlier.

Its a problem with distance. Now all had to start there based on the SEZ announced. Perhaps if Chennai - Pondy industrial corridor kicks off then Marg may be in the news

Though they claim it to be in chennai its more than 60 Kms from the Adyar, the southern tip of chennai. NO ONE , I repeat NO ONE who works in chennai will prefer to stay/settle there