The rich live in bangalore

Conventional wisdom is that the rich live in distinct parts of the city. The old money in Sadashivanagar, Basavanagudi and Malleswaram and wealthy immigrants, especially of the professional / services class in Indiranagar and Defence Colony and more recently in places like Koramangala. Of course, the seriously rich of recent have fled into secure, uber luxurious gated communities on the outskirts of Bangalore.  But where do the seriously wealthy - the ones who make the global rich list - prefer to live in Bangalore? The surprising answer is Jayanagar, the solidly middle to upper middle class suburb . A majority of the city's billionaires call this South Bangalore patch of land, home.

 The Jayanagar billionaire brigade includes Infosys co-founder and chairman emeritus N R Narayana Murthy and two other co-founders K Dinesh and SD Shibulal (current CEO of the company). GM Rao, chairman, GMR Group, also lives here.  The other billionaires are scattered across the city: Wipro's Azim Premji lives inside the Wipro Campus at Sarjapur, while former Infosys CEO and UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani stays in Koramangala. So do Wipro CFO Suresh Senapathy and Infosys vice-chairman Kris Gopalakrishnan . Vijay Mallya's ancestral home, currently being redeveloped in to a swanky White House in the sky, is located on Vittal Mallya Road.
 
 Proximity to Electronics City and Murthy's penchant for a low key lifestyle are, perhaps, the main reason why the Infy crowd moved to Jayanagar. But there's more to it than that. According to realty consultants, Jayanagar has a sizeable target market in the residential space for the super rich. The key audiences according to Vestian Global Workplace Services, a global real estate and transaction advisory, and project services company, are: New/ outgrown families of business communities operating from MG Road, Lalbagh Road, Basavangudi , Jayanagar and Bangalore South regions; professionals such as stockbrokers and lawyers operating from locations in proximity to the stock market (on Lalbagh Road) and high court respectively; industrialists operating in Kanakpura Road, Jigani and Bomasandra; senior IT/ITeS professionals; and doctors and chartered accountants working in the CBD as well as in Bangalore South.

 Jayanagar is also emerging as a hot retail destination . "Jayanagar 11th Main is one of the cardinal roads connecting Jayanagar to JP Nagar, Bannerghatta road, Banashankari, and other prominent markets, and also its close proximity to 4th Block Complex and market. All these factors have transformed this road into a sought after high street location," says Ram Chandnani, deputy MD of South India CBRE South Asia, a global real estate consultancy firm.

 Five years ago, retailers spent anywhere between Rs 50 to Rs 60 per sqft on rentals in this area, which today has touched the Rs 250 mark, a whopping 400% increase . Some instances of rentals touching the Rs 300 mark have also been reported.  According to real estate analysts , leasing activities in Jayanagar 4th Block 11th Main have been on the upside and is highly 'coveted' .
 
Some prominent brands in the area include Reliance Jewels, Nike, Max Fashions , Louis Phillippe, Raymonds, John Players, Heath and Glow, Office Depot, Lee, Kalyan Jewels, Amoeba Bowling, Levis, Mc Donalds , KFC, and Metro Shoes to name a few. "For these brands and similarly positioned ones, Jayanagar is in the top 5 of their priority areas, with 11th Main being the location of first choice," says Shubhranshu Pani, MD-Retail of Jones Lang LaSalle India. 

Why suburb rocks  The strong preference for Jayanagar is primarily because of the suburb being a well planned layout, has a mature social infrastructure, its proximity to the CBD, has a fine mix of traditional and cosmopolitan population, and has a good urban infrastructure.  Vestian Global Workplace Services | Global Real Estate Company  Jayanagar has become the South Bombay of Bangalore. The suburb is a city within a city concept.  Sudeep Chandran | Owner, Terrafirma Developers