Western suburbs get offer they can’t refuse | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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Western suburbs get offer they can’t refuse

Hindustan Times | By, Mumbai
Mar 08, 2010 01:41 AM IST

Umesh Prajapati and his family of four will move from the 540 sq ft flat where they’ve lived for four decades, to a new 740 sq ft house — without paying one rupee more reports Naresh Kamath.

Umesh Prajapati and his family of four will move from the 540 sq ft flat where they’ve lived for four decades, to a new 740 sq ft house — without paying one rupee more.

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Prajapati is resident and society secretary at New Sarvottam Cooperative Society at Irla, which is about to be redeveloped on very attractive terms for the residents. The society’s 116 flat owners have contracted a private developer to redevelop their property.

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Apart from getting a 2 Bedroom Hall Kitchen (BHK) flat in place of their current 1 BHK, they are also being offered Rs 2,500 per sq ft as a corpus fund (to finance monthly maintenance charges in the new building) and Rs 50 per sq ft as monthly rent. They will also get a pool, community center and health club.

This model of redevelopment of co-operative societies, especially in the western suburbs, from Bandra to Dahisar, is the flavour of the season. The roughly 500 co-op societies that are considering this are on 250-300 acres of prime real estate, and house at least 20,000 people. Executed on that scale, it will also generate at least 4,000 more new flats.

“This belt has excellent infrastructure and connectivity, and these societies have extensive space,” said Vibhoo Mehra, CEO, Mumbai Properties, a real estate brokerage firm, explaining the phenomenon. The major developers circling this segment are Kalpataru Constructions, Ahuja Group, Keystone Builders, Kumar Urban Development Limited (KUDL), Mayfair Group and Wadhwa Developers. For developers, the attraction is the opportunity to build —on prime land —more flats (using the increased floor space index available), which they can sell at attractive market rates.

Another case study is Anamika Society at Juhu — its 20 tenants have asked a builder to upgrade their 470 sq ft flats into those of 576 sq ft. Each resident will also get Rs 25,000 as monthly rent, and Rs 9.5 lakh as corpus fund. “Given current real estate rates, buying a new apartment is impossible — this scheme is a godsend,” said Sunil Khandelwal, secretary, Amamika Society.

Lalit Kumar Jain, chairman, KUDL, which is redeveloping 12 such societies, said: “The city gets additional housing stock, and the residents get a dramatic upgrade in amenities and infrastructure.”

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Naresh is a Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times, Mumbai, since 2005. He covers the real estate sector, in addition to doing political reportage.

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