Somajiguda in Hyderabad ranks 2nd in India’s top 30 high streets

Hyderabad: Somajiguda in Hyderabad has been ranked second in the list of top 30 high streets in India, while MG Road in Bangaluru topped the list, according to Knight Frank. Linking Road in Mumbai and South Extension (Part 1 & Part 2) in Delhi stood at third and fourth positions respectively. The ranking is based on parameters that determine the quality of experience high streets provide to customers.

As per the report, the prominent high streets in Hyderabad include Jubilee Hills, Banjara Hills, Somajiguda, Ameerpet and Gachibowli where the monthly average rent per sft are at Rs 200-225, Rs 190-230, Rs 150-175, Rs 110-130 and Rs 120-140 respectively. The city has total retail arena of 18 lakh sft, including modern retail arena of 10 lakh sft.

Shishir Baijal, CMD at Knight Frank India, said: “Apart from Somajiguda, the city has many high streets like Banjara Hills and Gachibowli. Various global brands and designer brands have their retail outlets here. The outlook for the city retail market is promising with more malls coming up. The real estate developers are keen to construct commercial spaces due to high demand in the city.” Speaking about the overall retail market in the country, he said, “Retail is a highly competitive business and, more recently with the advent of malls, is also closely related to the overall customer experience. Globally, the cities are identified by their high streets, often one of the main attractions of the city, and the brands on these streets - a barometer of the city's worth on a global platform.”

"But as we evolve, customer experience is the key and due to their traditional nature, high streets often fail to provide amenities like those of shopping centres. However, as cities in India are modernising, we see many high streets in the country reviving as facilities like access, parking and store visibility have improved," Baijal said.

He estimated that the average per square meter revenues of high streets will be significantly higher than those of malls in FY 2023–24. "Going forward, we expect that high streets provide a good retailing experience to customers to see a revival even as other formats of retail continue to thrive," he added.

"Bengaluru has the best of high streets that provide a significantly better shopping experience with 4 of its markets making it to the top 10 list," real estate consultant Knight Frank India said. The consultant has conducted a primary survey of 30 high street locations in eight major markets of India and released a report 'Think India Think Retail 2023 - High Street Real Estate Outlook'. The ranking is based on five parameters - parking, public transport, store visibility, spending quotient and average trading density. Kolkata's Park Street and Camac Street are at the fifth position, followed by Chennai's Anna Nagar, Bengaluru's Commercial Street, Noida's Sector 18 Market, Bengaluru's Brigade Road and Bengaluru's Church Street.

The top ten high streets are those that are convenient in terms of access, parking facilities and with a varied assortment of retailers. The layout and master planning of the high street define the visibility.

Inward looking markets like Khan Market (Delhi) and DLF Galleria (Gurugram) scored very low, whereas markets aligned along the access road like MG Road (Bengaluru), Somajiguda (Hyderabad), Linking Road (Mumbai), Anna Nagar, Park Street and Camac Street (Kolkata) scored high on the list, the consultant said.

Total high street retail stock is 13.2 million square feet spread across 4,875 retail stores in the top eight markets. Out of this, 5.7 million square feet is modern retail and 7.5 million square feet is non-modern retail. After careful assessment of the average trading densities in top 10 retailer categories across 30 high streets, Knight Frank said the potential consumption in the high streets is derived at nearly $2 billion for FY 2023-24. This represents 19 per cent of the potential consumption of $11 billion projected for operational shopping mall stock in FY 2023-24.