Mangaluru is in the midst of a shopping mall boom. Several modern shopping malls, multiplexes, some of them just catering for luxury brands, have opened in the city in the past few years. Several more are currently under construction with the biggest concentration being in the city’s well populated areas.
Yet none of those in the city can match the ambition of Ecologic Habitats LLP’s Transit One on National Highway-66 at the upcoming Thokkottu junction.
Ecologic Habitats, a leading construction company with an experience of 30 years is here to introduce Mangaluru to ‘Stop-Recharge-Restart’ concept which was started in the United States in 1930. Being the first ones to start ‘apartment culture’ in Kasaragod in the early 90s, the group has built 40 multi-storied residential buildings and is now into commercial construction. Their motive is to work for passion and develop the suburbs of Mangaluru.
The Managing Director P S Mohammed and Director of Finance Abdul Kareem spent some valuable time speaking about the project Transit One to newskarnataka.com. Here are the excerpts:
Q: When most of the construction companies try to locate their malls in the city, Ecologic Habitats has started its campaign in a suburb. Any specific reason for this decision?
Mohammed: Ecologic Habitats is here to change the standard of designing in Mangaluru. It’s a new generation company. Before we started the project, we made an extensive research which showed us the fact that there are 17,000 unsold apartments in the city. The malls in the city are experiencing more window shopping than sales. Construction companies are trying to compete with one another constructing buildings taller than his rivals. So we decided to give something new to Mangaluru. We are here to develop the city horizontally and not vertically. The suburbs are very potential. Thokkottu is the one of the fastest growing suburbs in Asia with four medical colleges located close by. Over 15,000 students and 20,000 NRI’s stay nearby. 20 vehicles pass through on the highway every single minute. The mall will cater to the needs of the locality and will give the travelers an ongoing journey experience.
Q: How different is Transit One different from others in terms of amenities?
Mohammed: There are so many firsts and exclusives in this mall. There will be world class amenities. A big LCD display will be displaying the products available in the mall, two basement parking, a drive-in supermarket in which travelers or customers can park their vehicle, shop and leave, the ground floor, first and second floor will have branded and semi-branded showrooms with 15 shops in each floors, a ladies and electronics zone in the 2nd floor and a 3-star restaurant on 3rd floor. The shops are priced at an affordable 10 lakh onwards.
Q: What would be the Unique Selling Preposition of Transit One?
Mohammed: The third floor will have 42 boutique shops which will be the one-stop destination for all students and travelers. There will be cake shops, toys, gifts, flowers and the list goes on. The 4th floor will have a Social Club which will have Discotheque, pub, games lounge and food court. These shops begin with a price tag of Rs 12 lakh. The two floors are basically targeted for the youth of not only Thokkottu or Derlakatte but Mangaluru city also.
Q: Whose idea was it to have a highway mall?
Mohammed: There was long research of about a year and half behind the project Transit One. Myself, my partner and Director of Finance Abdul Kareem, our children spent day and night for over research, discussions and the thought process.
Q: How’s the construction coming up and will the dreams of the suburbs turn into reality?
Mohammed: The construction is going on at a steady pace. The building is being constructed on a 40 cent land and the target is June 2018. India’s best landscape designer Rohit Marol of Terrafirma designers is bought in for the building design. We are making sure that we have the best in class talent in the construction of the mall. Ecological Habitats believes in investing in developing markets. We have made a detailed study on the customer requirements of Thokkottu and Transit One will be surely satisfying them.
Q: Will Ecologic Habitats venture into residential building construction in Mangaluru in the near future?
Mohammed: No plans as such for the time being as we are dedicating all our time to Transit One for now.
Q: What are your future projects?
Mohammed: We have been through a few locations in Dakshina Kannda district and zeroed upon a property near Surathkal. It would be resort with spas and other amenities. We are quite sure that the ‘Transit’ series will be super successful as we would be not giving Mangloreans the regular malls but something the city really needs.
