Dozen private firms evince interest in buying BKC plot

86,828sqmt plot in Bandra Kurla Complex may fetch MMRDA `315cr

Close to a dozen private companies have come forward to purchase Transferable Development Rights (TDR) from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). Officials believe this is a good sign for the organisation that will soon close tenders for the sale of one of its biggest plots in Bandra Kurla Complex.

“On Tuesday, our bidding for the sale of 86,828.12sqmt of TDR was closed and on Wednesday, technical bids were opened, with around a dozen bids being received,” a senior MMRDA official told dna.

If the entire lot of 86,828.12 sqmt of TDR is sold out, the MMRDA will fetch a minimum of Rs315 crore as the reserve price has been kept at Rs36,350/m.

Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago, the bidders or developers had asked MMRDA to reduce the reserve price by around Rs4,000/mt, which the MMRDA refused outright.

Last week, during the pre-bid meeting for the sale of the plot at Bandra Kurla Complex, 12 developers had turned up to buy the plot. Therefore, MMRDA officials are hopeful of getting a desirable price for the 12,486sqmt of land, on which 50,000sqmt of commercial construction is permitted. The reserve price for the entire plot is Rs1,479 crore.

The previous attempt to sell the TDR was made in January, wherein the MMRDA had come out with 30,000sqmt of TDR for sale with an expectation to earn a minimum of Rs154 crore. But it did not receive enough response from the realty market to sell the entire 30,000sqmt.

Credit :  Ateeq Shaikh , dnaindia.net

Regulator for housing may be year away

Mumbaikars awaiting the setting-up of the housing regulatory authority may have to wait another year. One month after Parliament approved the Housing Regulatory Bill, the Centre is yet to issue a gazette notification. The notification is issued to inform citizens of the day when the Act comes into force. Unless it is done, the Act cannot be implemented.

MUMBAI: Mumbaikars awaiting the setting-up of the housing regulatory authority may have to wait another year. One month after Parliament approved the Housing Regulatory Bill, the Centre is yet to issue a gazette notification. The notification is issued to inform citizens of the day when the Act comes into force. Unless it is done, the Act cannot be implemented.

"The passing of the Bill was taken up very rigorously but thereafter there has been no movement to get it approved," said a source. "With the Centre passing its own Act, the state Act has been repealed. Further rules need to be framed to implement the Act which itself may take a year."

The state government, said sources, was keen to appoint former bureaucrat Gautam Chatterjee as the chief of the housing regulatory authority given his expertise in these matters.


Credit : http://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/ 

BMC action against illegal bldg cosmetic

Civic body again refrains from demolishing Hasan House

Once again, civic officials from B ward have taken cosmetic action against an illegal building with the address 111, Zakaria Masjid Street, also called Hasan House. The officials came, struck a few blows with hammers on the building, had lunch and left, in an exact repeat of the ‘action’ that B ward officials had taken in the first week of February. Of course, they must have taken a few photographs to be placed on record while submitting the report to municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

While dna has been writing about illegal structures coming up in the guise of old structures being 100% repaired, the residents of the area have lodged several more complaints about work on other such illegal buildings being carried out across the ward.

dna had reported on April 10 how Hasan House was ready and its developer is planning to give possession of flats once the building gets a power connection. However, on April 11, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta ordered additional municipal commissioner Pallavi Darade to visit the illegal structure and submit an action-taken report within a week.

Darade visited the structure and officials were instructed to take action. But unfortunately, no such action was taken. What happened instead was an orchestrated drama wherein six-eight labourers went up to the 10th floor of the building at 12.45pm and hammered on the walls for 30 minutes, even as officials from the building and factory department waited in a vehicle a little distance away from the building.

dna had first reported on December 2, 2015, about five illegal structures constructed in the area during the Diwali holidays. Local politicians, elected representatives and developers work hand-in-glove and civic officials have turned a blind eye to these structures.

Hasan House, an 11-storey load-bearing structure, was constructed in just one month. B ward officials were reluctant to demolish the structure and delayed action, even after it was scheduled on the list and the police had promised protection to the officials.

Assistant commissioner of B ward, Srinivas Kilaje, and an engineer from the building and factory department, Vishal Mhaiskar, were two of the officials responsible for taking action against the unscrupulous developers, but they dragged their feet on the issue.

The officials merely shot off a notice and never took any action. When dna did a follow-up story, the officials assured that action would be taken, but never fulfilled this promise. Almost three months later, in February, a symbolic demolition was undertaken. This was an eyewash as the civic staff hammered on the walls for a few minutes and stopped it after the developer’s men approached them.

Such buildings have no completion certificates or occupation certificates, and yet have access to civic amenities like water, sewerage and electricity.

Credit : http://epaper.dnaindia.com/

Simplex Infra, JKumar, NCC to develop Mumbai's Metro-7 corridor

Simplex Infrastructure, JKumar Infraprojects and NCC have won the contracts for different packages of the 16.5 km Andheri (East) to Dahisar (East) Metro-7 corridor.

MUMBAI: Simplex Infrastructure, JKumar Infraprojects and NCC have won the contracts for different packages of the 16.5 km Andheri (East) to Dahisar (East) Metro-7 corridor.

"The Executive Committee of the Authority, headed by Maharashtra Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya, accorded approval to appointment of the contractors to design and construct an elevated viaduct and 16 stations in three packages," Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said in a statement today.

Simplex Infrastructure has been awarded the contract to design and construct the first package consisting of an elevated viaduct and five elevated stations including Andheri (East), Shankarwadi, JVLR Junction, Mahanand and new Ashok Nagar.

The agency has selected JKumar Infraprojects to design and construct the second package consisting of an elevated viaduct and six elevated stations - Aarey, Dindoshi, Pathan Wadi, Pushpa Park, Bandongri and Mahindra & Mahindra.

NCC has bagged the contract to design and construct the third package consisting of an elevated viaduct and five elevated stations including Magathane, Devipada, National Park, Ovaripada and Dahisar(E).

Metropolitan Commissioner UPS Madan had earlier said the preparatory work for the Rs 6,208 crore project will begin soon after the awarding of the contract, but the actual civil work will commence after monsoon.

"These winning bidders will design and construct the entire corridor and all 16 stations within a period of 30 months," MMRDA said.

Credit : http://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Mumbai's first cop housing scheme to come up on private land

MUMBAI: The city's first police housing scheme will come up on private land, in a no-development zone which has been converted into a residential zone for the purpose.

The government has permitted the conversion as "most land in its vicinity has already been developed". Urban development department (UDD) officials said the plot was near the Infinity IT Park and civic reservoir in Malad, beyond which is the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The scheme is subject to the draft notification of the eco-sensitive zone around the National Park issued in January.

The over 20-acre (80,934 sq metre) plot is owned by construction firm D B Realty, and its development is being allowed under Section 33(3) (b) of the Development Control Regulations (DCR), which means a developer can sell 80% of the construction as a sale component.

UDD officials said the total floor space index (FSI) that will be allowed is 3.8, which means the developer can construct 33.1 lakh sq ft. Of this, an FSI of 1 will be for police housing and the remainder can be sold by the developer in the open market, for which the incentive FSI is 0.8. The developer gets the base FSI of 1 and can also use the transfer of development rights, so the total FSI is 3.8. Each police tenement is to be 40 sq m (430.55 sq ft).

In a notification early this month, the UDD said the home department will be the authority for the land development and will ensure that the police housing component is strictly implemented at the earliest.

Under its housing policy for the police, the state will set up 33,000 tenements on private land and so introduced the new DCR. It directed that the developer must maintain a 10-metre buffer zone on land adjoining the forest. The developer will have to develop an 18-metre wide road.

Credit : http://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Maharashtra government in quandary over housing act

The Maharashtra government had earlier referred both the state and central housing regulatory acts to its legal department for a decision on which of these two should be followed in Maharashtra. The state government itself, though, is of the opinion that the Maharashtra Housing (Regulation and Development) Act, 2012 — which is more pro-consumer and stringent on developers — should be followed over the central act.

"We are confused after the Centre recently approved its own act, and hence we decided to seek legal opinion before finalising things. We have been asked by the Centre to repeal the state act so that the central act can be enforced. But if we check both the central and state acts point by point, the state act is more powerful and adds more teeth to the consumer's cause," said a senior government official requesting anonymity.

He added that the Maharashtra Housing Regulatory Act is ready for implementation at a moment's notice. "We had also prepared the guidelines. If there is clarity that the state act should be followed, we will intimate the central housing department about our decision," the official said.

Ravindra Waikar, Maharshtra's housing minister, said that there are many provisions in the central act that have nothing to do with the state's housing industry. "Mumbai is a dynamic city which has its own individual issues, and the central act does not include various issues that pertain to Mumbai and Maharashtra. Therefore, we are primarily of the opinion that our state act should be retained. Many developers take buyers on a ride, so we have to protect the interests of the buyers and consumers over that of the developers," Waikar said.

Amin Patel, a Congress MLA and member of the joint select committee that has prepared the state bill, said that in the central act, there is no provision of deemed conveyance, which involves transferring the title of a plot of land or building. This has been made in the state act. "Conveyance is the major issue in Mumbai. There are many cases of developers who have developed a building, but are yet to make the conveyance even after 30 years of the project's completion. Without the conveyance, the redevelopment of these buildings will not take place. Therefore, we had included the provision of deemed conveyance so that many residents could benefit and redevelop their dilapidated buildings," Patel said.

Patel further said that there are 45,000 housing societies in Maharashtra that are still awaiting ownership of the title from the developers. "If we repeal the state act, then the developers will take advantage and throw out the existing residents from these buildings to make way for redevelopment. The central government act seems to be soft towards developers," Patel added. He said that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should write to the Centre asking for the state housing act to be implemented in Maharshtra.


Credt : http://www.dnaindia.com

Kalpataru launches ‘Project Immensa’ in Thane

Premium and luxury real estate developer Kalpataru Limited has announced the launch of Project Immensa, a premium residential development comprising over 1250 apartments, situated within Kalpataru’s master planned township development on Kolshet Road in Thane.

Project Immensa will comprise eight towers offering 1BHK, 2BHK, 3BHK and 3BHK Duplex home options.

Project Immensa incorporates several innovative, first in class design features which finely balance exclusivity and privacy, with functionality and efficient use of space.

The floor layout is such that there are minimum shared walls between any two apartments. Not only does this enhance privacy, but also provides good cross ventilation, increased sunlight, and enhanced sense of space. The placement of walls, doors and windows in the apartment are done in a manner that enables efficient furniture layout without space wastage, enabling maximum functionality.

Project Immensa will offer residents class-leading leisure, sports and community living facilities.

Project Immensa features a 6000 square feet super fitness zone comprising gymnasium, yoga room cum dance studio, spinning room and kick boxing arena. That apart, two indoor badminton courts, a lap swimming pool for professional swimmers in addition to a pleasure pool, kids pool, and open air jacuzzi, a multi-sport astroturfed area, podium level community recreation areas, choice of party venues including party zone on rooftop, party lawns and clubhouse with multiple party halls and indoor games room, and a large landscaped garden, together spread across over 35,000 square feet offer residents ample fitness and recreation options to choose from.

Celebrated architect, Hans Brouwer of HB Design, Singapore, credited with projects such as Commerzbank headquarters, Frankfurt, and Century Tower, Tokyo is the design architect, while, Aedas Pte. Ltd., Singapore, which has been the architect to iconic projects such as the new World Trade Centre, Jakarta, the 82 storey Ocean Heights Residential Towers in Dubai is the masterplan architect.

Parag Munot, Managing Director, Kalpataru Limited, said “We are excited to launch Project Immensa, which will be a benchmark project in Thane. It reaffirms our commitment to Thane and our firm belief in the city’s huge growth potential, particularly of the Kolshet area, which will witness significant value unlocking in the near future. We have over the past three decades developed several landmark residential and commercial projects in Thane. Our projects such as Tarangan, and Siddachal are landmarks that host vibrant communities, and Kalpataru promoted Korum Mall is a thriving shopping hub and community centre of choice for citizens from Thane and beyond”.