India’s first shopping mall-cum-coworking facility, the AeroMall is expected to open in Pune, in mid-October, 2022.
According to Anarock Retail, India’s first shopping mall-cum-coworking space, housing some of the niche retail businesses, is expected to be open in Pune in the middle of October. The AeroMall, being built by Pebbles Infra-Tech under the PPP model with AAI, is next to the Pune Airport and spans 4,45,000 square feet, comprising 1,30,000 square feet of leasable retail space.
According to Anarock Retail, the retail services section of the home-grown real estate consultant Anarock, they served as the facility’s only advisors when designing the complex, managing its development, and selecting its tenant mix.
Airport retail has once again taken centre stage as air travel picks back up after the pandemic. The company claimed that there is still a lack of high-quality retail space in Indian airports for the best-suited stores selling clothing and accessories, wellness items, technology, fashion, travel equipment, food and beverages, and cosmetics. Airport retail is appealing to businesses because it offers a larger return on investment than other sites. However, it was noted that the tenant mix in airports must be carefully researched.
Anarock Retail stated that it anticipates leasing out Pune Airport’s standalone mixed-use centre, enclosing shopping, office and coworking, a food court, and a multi-level car park (MLCP), spread out over 2,50.000 sq ft, to completion by the end of the third quarter of 2022. AeroMall is scheduled to launch on October 15. The facility’s third floor, which is 65,000 square feet in size, is entirely devoted to coworking and office spaces that can accommodate 2,000 working professionals at once.
Pebbles Infra-Tech Pvt Ltd is responsible for the development of AeroMall under the PPP model with AAI. The retail spaces are appropriate for tenants like high-end electronics, clothes, and F&B shops given the shopper profile, and are being leased in accordance with this, informed Anarock Retail Director Mayank Sharan.
Adjacent to the Pune Airport
Alongside the Lohegaon Air Force Station, the Pune Airport is a civil enclave run by the Airports Authority of India that serves both domestic and international travellers.
In the preceding fiscal year, passenger traffic at Pune Airport increased 73.4 percent year-on-year to 37.13 lakh. According to the AAI website, the airport handled a total of 21.37 lakh passengers in FY21. The AAI is investing Rs 457 crore to build a new integrated terminal building at Pune Airport with the ability to accommodate up to 7 million passengers annually.
According to Sharan, conversations are also ongoing with additional high-recall anchors like Decathlon. Some of the brands already confirmed to take up space are Croma, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Spykar, Zudio, and cosmetics brands Sugar and Forest Essentials. The remaining spots are being snatched up by other retailers because of their prime location, he continued.
According to Anarock Retail, the size of airport retail spaces typically varies between 500 and 5000 square feet and is strongly proportional to the retail category.
According to the statement, AeroMall is distinctive as an independent development since it removes the typical limitations of airport retail and provides retailers with a full-fledged shopping mall setting.
According to Sunil Nahar, Director at Pebbles Infra-Tech Pvt. Ltd., the feature that makes this mixed-use complex at Pune Airport special is that it will service passengers and be an independent retail and coworking destination.
Coworking facility
A very modern requirement is being met by the inclusion of coworking areas in commercial office buildings. Although coworking became popular during the pandemic, its placement in the complex is also a result of the area’s characteristics, he added.
According to Nahar, these upscale coworking spaces will also be a key draw for working professionals from the surrounding areas. Remote and hybrid working air travellers are an obvious consumer source.
The business added that Pebbles Infra-Tech and Anarock Retail are wrapping up negotiations with top coworking operators in order to choose the company that will run the coworking centre starting in mid-October.
