The Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) plans to construct a mall in a residential tower in Ashok Nagar. Moreover, this is the first time a state-owned board is foraying into mall space.

The 22 storey structure appears to be in the shape of a wine glass and will be constructed on the tri-junction plot at Ashok Pillar.

The final design was selected among 10 designs presented by a private architect. The ground and top three floors will constitute a mall and the remaining floors will have three-BHK luxury apartment units. It will have 268 apartment units and every apartment unit will be 1,700 sq ft.

Both the commercial and residential space are for sale. Around one lakh sq ft of space in the building will be earmarked for the mall with each floor of 24,000 sq ft size.

An amount of Rs 227.26 crore has been earmarked for construction of the entire structure over an area of 2.13 acre of land parcel. The height of the tower will be 70 mtr.

The officials have applied for planning permission with the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. The construction work is expected within three years.

Apart from this, the government has proposed to create a ‘commerce hub’ in the heart of Chennai at Nandanam, where the TNHB headquarters is located. The hub is an infrastructure project proposed on the lines of Tidel Park to attract multi-national companies to invest in the state and develop Chennai into an international finance centre.

The hub will be used for financial institutions, banks, trading and brokering houses to set up their operations. The facility will come up over 12.31 acre land on Anna Salai. An area of one million sq ft will be utilised for office space. The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 550 crore.