Express Estates – Over and out!
The sprawling 23 acre Express Estates on Club House Road, has now been sold off. I heard that the Indian Express Press has also vacated and moved somewhere in Ambattur. It was landmark property of historical importance. It was here that the prestigious the Old Madras Club was before moving to its current premises near the Adyar River on Turnbulls Road.
Robert Chrisholm, the architect renowned for his Indo-Sarcenic style bulit the heritage structure in a unique Palladian style here.
Apparently this was the site where the germs for every single club in the city was born. And it was this place which introduced various sports to the city like football, rugby, golf, squash among others.
Now completely knocked down, there are different versions of what is going to come there. One says DLF has bought the land and coming up with an office complex. Some others talk about ITC building an International mall and convention centre replete with hotels etc. The last one which I heard yesterday was that Sathyam Cinemas have bought a piece of the land and coming up with a 7-screen multiplex.
Whatever it might be, it is one more heritage structure that has been pulled down.
now we will have some stupid promoter devleoping it into a stupid shopping complex!! i hope the new owner has some brains to retain some of the old buildings.
I think he has already pulled down the old buildings
what i understand is manoj kumar sonthalia, the publisher of express, vacated the premises to be occupied by saroj goenka, who owns it. ms. goenka plans to build a seven star convention centre there…anybody confirm?
partly true, to the best of my knowledge… just that the convention centre i heard will be built by ITC (the Sheraton Group) and will have a fashion mall that will rival any international one…
Listen People this is the real story ahead on what we,Chennaiates are going to see and enjoy in around 2 years time at the former Indian Express estate site.We are going to witness mixed use mega commercial project soon and would be ready by late 2008.
The
promoter of this unique development is Express Newspapers Pvt. Ltd
(ENP).
ENP owns and manages Real estate assets throughout India. ENP owns more
than
million square feet of land and also office premises in prime CBD in
the
major metros of India. ENP has and continues to enjoy a very good
reputation, trust and goodwill throughout India for well over half a
century. Express Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd a 100% subsidiary of the
Express
Newspaper Pvt. Ltd will execute this mega, landmark and prestigious
project
in Chennai.
This mixed development project will
include a
Shopping mall, Hotel & Office complex- a future Landmark of Chennai.
The
land parcel is located near Anna salai, at the heart of the city, in
prime
CBD and abutts three broad roads. The proposed shopping mall will be of
International standards with excellent infrastructure, premium
specifications, ambience and will house some of the best known
international
brands. The mall will be the most sought after retail destination in
Chennai
guaranteeing wholesome entertainment and shopping experience. With the
relaxation of FDI norms for Retail, the anticipated potential and
growth of
organized retailing, we are very confident that leading brands of
worldwide
repute and prominent Indian brands will take up space in our mall,
transforming it into a shopper’s paradise.
The first phase of the mega project will be on about 10 acres plot of
land.
The total constructed area of this landmark building will be about a
million
square feet, with the bulk of the space being taken up by the premium
shopping mall and will house some of the best-known brands throughout
the
world. The built up area of the premium shopping mall will be about 8
lac
square feet with the shopping areas in the Lower ground floor, Upper
ground
floor, the First floor, Second floor. The Third floor and fourth floor
will
have the state of the art 11 screens Multiplex. The Shopping mall will
house
Hypermarket, Anchor stores, Multiplex, Food courts, Entertainment area,
Fine
dining, Shops and Kiosks etc. The mixed development will have 2
additional
basements below the lower ground floor for parking purposes and service
areas. The entire campus can accommodate more than 2,500 cars and over
2,000
two wheelers.
The Hotel – of premium category and Grade A++ Office Building will be a
part
of the mixed development; will compliment and add value to the Shopping
mall.
The hotel will be a five star deluxe category hotel with a total built
up
area of about 1.9 lac square feet. The premium hotel will have 227
rooms,
will be equipped with lounge, Bar/Resturant, a Banquet hall, Boutique
and
will house an ultra modern Health club with Swimming pool on the 11th
floor.
The office complex will be Grade A++ building spread over 6 floors with
a
total built up area of about 95,000 sft, will incorporate top of the
line
specification and infrastructure.
my grandfather worked for indian express and my mother grew up on that property. my memories of my family “back home” in chennai had always been of express estates. it was sad when we had to vacate. does anyone have pictures of the property? i have been scouring the internet for pix, which is how i came upon your blog.
@pooja
i am not very sure if i can help you with pics, though if i get will for sure will let you know…. it is indeed really really sad, that such a building has been pulled out to house some stupid multiplex and IT companies who will never be able to appreciate on what a great and historic piece of land they are sitting on…
THE INDIAN EXPRESS ESTATE AREA PERHAPS MAY HAVE ONCE HAD A HISTORICAL BUILDING ON ITS SITE FROM THE PAST BUT EVERYTHING HAS BEEN KNOCKED DOWN NOW AND COMPLETELY CLEARED.IT WILL GIVE WAY TO ONE OF INDIA’S LARGEST INTERNATIONAL MALL CUM MULTIPLEX COVERING ALMOST A MILLION SQUARE FEET.HAVE A FIVE STAR DELUXE HOTEL AND A SMALL COMMERCIAL OFFICE SPACE.OVERALL IT WILL BECOME A MAJOR LANDMARK OF CHENNAI OF THE 21ST CENTURY.IT WILL GIVE EVERY CHENNIATE A NEW LANDMARK TO BE PROUD OF.CHANGE IS CONSTANT.PLEASE EMBRASE IT AND LOOK FORWARD TO THE GREAT EXCITMENT IT IS SURE TO BRING TO EVERY CHENNIATE ONCE ITS COMMISSIONED.ITS SURE TO CHANGE CHENNAI LANDSCAPE AND USHER IN THE NEW CENTURY OF THINGS TO COME.
The last big post of what is going to come up on Express Estates is bang on. Just thought I’d post some specifics.
– The place is going to house an Imax Dome theatre
– The hotel has been contracted to the Taj Group, not Sheraton
– The theatres are still in a tussle between Sathyam and PVR though with PVR choosing the Ampa Centre one on Poonamallee High Road, it seems this one’s going to Sathyam
– Westside, Pantaloon have already signed up HUGE amounts of space with Westside trying to rival Lifestyle’s property in Chennai Citi Center. It is also said that BMW has signed up for a showroom within the mall.
I am visiting the complex later today as we are a proposed vendor. Will try and see if I can get photos. Will share if I do.
HI HARISH
GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU RECONFIRMING THIS MEGA COMMERCIAL LANDMARK VENTURE ON WHICH I HAD RECIEVED SOME INFO ON LAST WEEK FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE.I M QUITE SURE SATHYAM HAS SIGNED FOR THE 11 SCREEN MULTIPLEX IN THE EXPRESS MALL.GREAT TO HEAR THE LIKES OF WESTSIDE (TRENT),PANTALOONS AND BMW AMONGST OTHERS ARE GOING TO BE OCCUPING SPACE IN THIS MALL OF ALL MALLS.GOOD ON TAJ TO GET THE HOTEL VENTURE WITHIN THE MEGA COMPLEX.LETS HOPE THEY GET GOING ON IT AND WILL BE READY FOR COMMISIONING IN A COUPLE OF YEARS TIME FROM NOW.