1.5 lakh per square feet
In a recent realty deal in Mumbai, a building at Borivali (West) was sold for Rs.1.5-lakh per square feet for commercial purpose.
Mangal Kunj , The building, admeasuring over a lakh square feet has reportedly been sold to a matka king. It is a complex comprising five buildings and around a 100 shops in Borivali – West.
The market trends in Borivali were mostly driven by the mid income sector. Though, the deal would not have any impact on real estate value in that location as it is far beyond the pricing norm of that area, property prices in Borivali are still increasing gradually,say the realty experts.
Carmichael Road villa sold for 300 crore
Nauzer K Bharucha | TNN
Mumbai: An old bungalow property in the exclusive residential enclave of Carmichael Road in south Mumbai is believed to have been sold for around Rs 300 crore.
Villa Nirmala, an over-six-decade-old property, has been jointly purchased by Peninsula Land—part of the Ashok Piramal Group—and developer Khemchand Kothari. Interestingly, a member of the Kothari family was recently involved in a hit-and-run accident at Marine Drive.
Sources said the transaction involved a payment of Rs 240 crore, plus 15,000 sq ft of space for the occupants of the bungalow once it was redeveloped. The structure, which occupies about half an acre and has a garden at the back, may make way for a skyscraper in the otherwise lowrise Carmichael Road, which is a declared heritage precinct.
Currently, the only highrise on this road is the 24-storey Usha Kiran, built in the mid-1960s. Buildings here command rates of Rs 40,000-90,000 a sq ft, sometimes more.
However, sources close to the deal said it was too early for the developers to divulge details about the project. “We are working on it,’’ they said. The ground-plus-two-storey bungalow once belonged to Maharaj Kumar Khanderao Shivajirao Gaekwad and subsequently came into the possession of two families, the Wagles and the Lalvanis.
Height restriction for Carmichael Road buildings
Mumbai: Residents of Carmichael Road in south Mumbai say most buildings in the area must adhere to a covenant restricting their height, which does not allow them to go beyond a certain height even if they are redeveloped. But in case the building is a cessed structure (which has tenants and was constructed prior to 1940), heritage rules do not apply and the property gets an enhanced floor space index (FSI). The developers of Villa Nirmala, which has reportedly changed hands for around Rs 300 crore, say the bungalow is not a cessed property.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Carmichael Road saw a plethora of stately homes dotting its lush hill slopes. Old-timers recalled that many of these houses were built for about Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh. Among the oldest is the sprawling municipal commissioner’s bungalow, which came up in the 1920s, and the official residence of the Port Trust chairman, built in 1918.
The plot on which Mumbai’s first skyscraper, Usha Kiran, came up, once housed a “princely-looking’’ bungalow belonging to a Marwari family called the Khandelwals. Among the other properties that were rebuilt, modified or expanded in the past were the Dahanukar bungalow, the Birla family house and Ghia Mansion.
Over the past few decades, dozens of old, colonial-style bungalows, mainly located in South Mumbai areas like Altamount Road and Napean Sea Road, have been razed to make way for towers. Properties on Napean Sea Road that are more than a century old have been demolished after they were bought over by private developers.
In fact, the redevelopment of old bungalows and mansions in this area began more than three decades ago. Napean House, which was once located behind Napean Terrace, went under the hammer years ago and the FSI from this plot was used to built the Ashiana apartment block. Kshitij, a skyscraper on Napean Sea Road, came up a few decades ago on a bungalow property owned by Cowasjee Jehangir. Similarly, the Maharaja of Baroda’s palace gave way to the residential building Jal Darshan.
The colonial bungalow
British Adaptation: From the 18th century onwards, the British adapted this residential type and the word became anglicized to “bungalow’’. The British used the bungalows for housing colonial officers and administrators and constructed them primarily in urban areas and compounds outside Indian cities, in army cantonments and in summer retreats in hill stations.
Bungalow Architecture: The typical bungalow consists of a low, onestoreyed spacious building, internally divided into separate living, dining areas and bedrooms, the latter with attached bathrooms that are also accessible to the sweeper by a second doorway leading into the compound. A verandah, forming an integral part of the structure, or alternatively attached to the outside walls, surrounds part or all of the building. The bungalow is invariably situated in a large walled or otherwise demarcated compound with generally one main exit to the road on which it is situated. The kitchen, servants quarters, stabling and rooms for carriages or cars were separate from and placed at the rear of the bungalow.
Source: Sharada
Dwivedi and Rahul
Mehrotra
TONY NEIGHBOURHOOD: Villa Nirmala could make way for a skyscraper in the predominantly low-rise Carmichael Road area, a declared heritage precinct