Bhavesh Shah, Joint Managing Director, Today Group
Nerul in Navi Mumbai has a new rhythm in the air. Once known for its tree-lined avenues and strategic location, this node developed by CIDCO has fast transformed into an urban powerhouse delivering freshness to the real estate space and living quotient. Spanning roughly across 9.18 km², the neighborhood has undergone a quiet rebranding and been reimagined by the city’s youth as a new and powerful emerging Nerul. It has come of age as Navi Mumbai’s node that is not just another address, but where living comes across as a statement. It has attained the stature of being a neighborhood where the future of MMR is being lived today.
Not to be merely defined by the boundaries on a map, Nerul gets its energy and vibrancy from the energy on the streets, from the new developments that are taking shape in the area. It is today a stylish, spirited, and among the sharply connected parts of Navi Mumbai. Nerul is quickly adapting, catering to a new generation of homeowners, professionals, and creators. Perhaps that is why this new avatar is called Neo Nerul.
The New Face Of Nerul
Besides the sheer charm it offers, this Neo Nerul is set apart from its past by a magnetic mix of luxury, lifestyle, and livability. In the modern confines of Nerul, high-end living meets high-speed infrastructure. One can spot joggers streaming past some of Nerul’s popular premium hotels in the morning, while techies meet over cold brews at café patios by noon, young fans head to DY Patil Stadium by evening; and families spend their weekends shopping, catching a movie, or enjoying an arcade battle at the Seawoods Nexus Mall. An outing with friends is easiest to plan with the variety of restaurants and pubs in and around Nerul, ranging from small diners to high-end restaurants. Nerul seamlessly combines a lifestyle whose mosaic is fluid, fast, and remains firmly focused on the future.
Connectivity is what Neo Nerul is flush with. The upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport is cleared for take-off later this year, and then this will be a neighborhood that sits just minutes away. Adding buzz is the government’s connectivity plans for Nerul. India’s first water taxi service connecting Radio Club Jetty in South Mumbai to the new airport in under 40 minutes will also become a reality. The elevated corridor that plans to link the airport with Thane will make reaching the airport from the Eastern suburbs a breeze. The upcoming developments will ensure reaching Nerul will be fast, scenic, and sustainable; making it just perfect for a new generation of homebuyers who want their commute time to work to be not as hard as the effort they put in.
There is also the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (Atal Setu), which has been a literal game-changer, reducing travel time between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to a mere 20-25 minutes. Metro line 8, the Gold line, is routed to connect Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport with the Navi Mumbai International Airport, and will go through Nerul. This will be a great addition to the connectivity between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and will also bypass most of the traffic congested roadways that make daily commute within Navi Mumbai difficult. It is this new kind of access by road, air, rail, and water that makes Nerul not just central; but a completely new axis of mobility and living.
Neo Nerul isn’t just a place to live, but it’s going to be a place to thrive. Adding to the list of new additions, a 300-acre International Corporate Park (better known as BKC- 2) in the works at the moment will make Navi Mumbai a leading commercial and IT hub. This will push the Nerul area to quickly evolve into the stomping ground for India’s new-age workforce. Be it an entrepreneur, coder, designer or marketer, every homebuyer will now have a reason to call Nerul home, and not just office. This has also contributed to the emergence of smarter cafés, collaborative co-working hubs, fitness studios, wellness centers, avenues for shopping and a lot more. It is also without saying that property values in the up and emerging Neo Nerul are beginning to reflect the area’s promise.
The Government of Maharashtra, CIDCO, and the University Grants Commission have also initiated a movement in bringing Universities from Europe, America and Australia to Navi Mumbai. Nerul, being in the heart of this movement will therefore see a massive boost in the demand for student housing, bringing in a wave of property investors. Needless to say, this will also impact prices in and around Nerul.
Where Luxury Meets Lifestyle
Nerul’s new and evolving housing market also holds a high aspirational value. It is where sport meets spirituality, and social buzz meets business hustle. Anchored by the DY Patil Stadium as already mentioned, this locality of Neo Nerul has always held on to a reputation for drawing in global sporting events. And beyond cricket, Navi Mumbai is being injected with major sports infrastructure. From training academies to new multi-sport facilities, it has everything one needs. If it were the stadium which gave the area fame, this new sporting wave is what is giving Nerul a new sense of purpose.
As the Kharghar-Turbhe Link Road (KTLR), which starts just a distance of five minutes away from the Jui Nagar Station on the Harbour Line commences operation, the ISKCON temple in Kharghar will become easily accessible with just a short driving distance, offering everyone the spiritual solace in the middle of every other madness in life. The KTLR also brings one of Kharghar’s most attractive weekend excursions, the Kharghar Valley Golf Course, closer to home. Where, after a long week, members can be spotted attending master classes or simply enjoying a game of Golf across the 18-hole sprawling lawns while taking in the scenic mountain view.
It is this rare combination of adrenaline and calm, of crowd and quiet that eventually gives Neo Nerul its edge.
For A Generation That Wants It All
This is not a Nerul that is Neo just through the real estate developments taking shape. It is a neighborhood being imagined by the very people who will settle here. From millennials or Gen Z it’s not the basic apartment that they seek anymore. It’s the neighborhood with identity, homes with character, and communities that they seek. It’s a Neo Nerul that offers both comfort and ambition and rising to meet a vision. As the rest of the city catches on, one thing’s certain, Nerul has now managed to grab the pulse of a much younger and sharper Navi Mumbai.