THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even after four rounds of tenders, only the ground floor and a few units on the first floor in the commercial complex of KSRTC bus stand at Thampanoor have been occupied. The custodian of the space, the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC) has written to the state government asking its opinion on what to do with the unoccupied space.
“Discussions are on to get government offices here. Commercial space will be up to fourth floor and beyond it will be office space. We are trying to fill all units up to tenth floor,” said KTDFC MD Usha Devi B. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had last year predicted that inadequate parking space could repel people from hiring space here. The parking lots are already full even before the shopping complex has been fully occupied.
As on Tuesday, only a few food joints on the bus platform are functioning. Apart from this are the ATMs of different banks. Some shops said that the rent for the space on the ground floor is around Rs 12,000. “Two years down the line, it will be a prestigious place to run business but now it’s fit for only a few types of business,” an entrepreneur said.
During the first round of tendering, KTDFC had sought a caution deposit of around Rs 20 lakh per unit which was deemed too high. Later, the KTDFC reduced its claims and allowed aspirant bidders to quote the caution deposit amount. However, still it could not find enough takers.
