October 11, 2006

Vibrant Velachery

I had to exceed my quote of one post a day. I am really excited that Velachery is becoming so hep and happening. ( so far, that I live there used to be Velachery's claim to fame. Just kidding. )

Clothing- Naihaa ( Naidu Hall), Venfield, Arrow Van Heusen ( all seconds of most major brands)
Footwear- Adidas, Reebok, Woodlands, Snazzy
Leather- Modskin
Eateries- Rathna Cafe, Dominos Pizza, Cakes and Bakes, Wangs Kitchen & Ascendes ( in Velachery's back yard) apart from the modest Krishna Boli ( ref to the OTBT- Foodie series)
Electronics- Sony showroom, Univercell
Apartments- Three Ceebros projects on the same road. So many high rise buildings that it almost resembles Hiranandani, Powai.
Department Stores- Spencers, Royal Shoppe, Trinetra, Latas, Cee dee Yes, Sekars, Vasanth, Nilgiris is coming by month end.
(Pre)Schools- About 4 reputed ones, The International school, Nav Disha, Marg, Daffodils
Most importantly- the people- as cosmopolitan as you get in Chennai with a lot of the IT crowd choosing to stay here

Untapped Business Ideas for Velachery ( money spinners as per my definition)
A multiplex- charge a premium on the ticket , have limited seating but save me the trouble of having to go out to Mayajaal or Sathyam
Eateries- An Italian Restaurant & an Ajnabee/ Gangotree or any other authentic chaat place
A good western dance / workout place like Swingers
A good book shop such as Landmark
Proper phulka/roti making for the burgeoning single, North Indian crowd
A vada pav/ bhajjiya shop servicing the night workers in the IT offces based here

Any takers?

17 comments:

Kalpana said...

Good to know about that area...

Cloudy Musings said...

Good that you live in such a hep place!!
But, never forget that you living there will always be Velachery's claim to fame :-)

Anonymous said...

Were you able to answer some questions for yourself?

Suman Pant said...

hmmm... no idea.... cool that you live in such a hep place.

Do they say "illa" for no in tamil?? or is it kannada?? i forgot! :(

Anonymous said...

Great post !
Velachery has indeed changed in the past few years and we plan to settle down in and around that area once we return to india in 2-3 years. How is the real estate price trends for the apartments that you mention that are coming up? what is the going rate/sq feet. You mention there are three ceebros projects. What are they?

thanks for the detailed explanations on why think velachery is
vibrant. What is you opinion on water issue. Do you buy mineral water for cooking/drinking etc.
Are there parks for children to play?

Ashish Agarwal said...

Velachery becoming this hep ? Wow !
I lived in Chennai for 5 years primarily in Adyar, and the only reason office colleagues lived in Velachery was because the rents were low. So if all this is there in Velachery, then great !

Hip Grandma said...

you stay in Velacheri.Well I've seen it GROW!!good place.

Alan said...

Got to have a Starbucks!

(I had to Google Velachery)

apu said...

Girl - are you offering any capital for all those cool ideas? If so, I am game :)

Artnavy said...

Real estate ranges between Rs 2000-4000/ sq ft depending on the amenities/ location and builder.

Rents range between Rs 6-8 per sq feet- so it remains affordable but not cheap.

Parks are usually part of the apartment - there are a couple though i have only seen a play park

Great time to invest

Water not scarce and is ok but for cooking I use the metro water- ltd supply. For Drinking- anyway anywhere in Chennai opt for mineral water

apu- remember all our cool ideas which never took off- the reason was that four letter word- C-A-S-H

alan- that is nice of u to take the pains to google and find out- yes a coffe shop would be good- We do not have starbucks in india but have barista/ coffee day/ coffee and so on- they r usually a part of Landmark ( book store)

Ethoughts- illai( ill-lie) in tamil and illa( ill la) in kannada

vi- will do a post on the answers

Artnavy said...

appu- with a little kid, difficult to travel to theatres but i think INOX is worth it

Itchingtowrite said...

hey hey hey- now now - u r provoking me... as we always fight! adyar-thiruvanmiyur vs velachery!!

D LordLabak said...

Gotta agree. Having grown up in KKNagar/AshokNagar, I was sad my parents chose to move to velasheri after I got married and came out of our house. But the place is actually happening as you say. People dare not call it "outskirts".

Has to be me said...

Hey thanks fr that....I never knew Vels is so developed! Will check it out when I visit Chennai this yr.
Im actually reminded of one of my classmates whom v used to tease saying he comes frm pattikadu(velachery) & he used to say that it is New South Wales (vels) of Australia!!!

Anonymous said...

velachery is that cool? it was "outskirts" the last time i was in chennai which was 7 years back. :-)

Anonymous said...

you cant use Velachery and hip in the same sentence.. anywhere in the paragraph even..

Ever tried going out on a rainy night??

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