Phase 2 of SBUT gets going, OC received
Spread over an area of about 1.5 acres, Al-Ezz faces the Mohammed Ali Road and consists of two towers of 53 storeys each. A mixed-used development, it will house over 1,280 families and around 260 commercial shops which are ready for possession
MUMBAI: Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), undertaking one of India’s largest cluster redevelopment projects in Bhendi Bazaar, has received part Occupancy Certificate (OC) for the next phase of the project and has begun allotting shop owners space in the new premises -- Al-Ezz (honour).
Spread over an area of about 1.5 acres, Al-Ezz faces the Mohammed Ali Road and consists of two towers of 53 storeys each. A mixed-used development, it will house over 1,280 families and around 260 commercial shops which are ready for possession. Part of Phase II of the redevelopment project, Al-Ezz towers’ construction began in 2021, replacing 23 dilapidated buildings.
Expressing delight over the transformation of Bhendi Bazar, an SBUT spokesperson said, “Our teams are actively engaging with commercial and residential tenants to complete their documentation processes to facilitate their smooth relocation.”
Some commercial shop owners have started visiting the new premises in anticipation.
On Thursday, shop owner Badruddin Asger Mehta, 38, accompanied by his father in law Abdulla Jawadwala, 63, came to inspect their new premises on the second floor of Al-Ezz. Mehta family’s shop was located in Saifee Jubilee Street where a horse stable existed before 1960s. “In the 1960s, my grandfather set up a business of providing utensils and mandaps for wedding. So my family was well known as Mandapwalas earlier. My father Asger Abbas Mehta then started a business of renting out cycles, and then moved to hardware. We had a 517 sq ft hardware shop which we vacated in 2014. Our new premises have been split into two spaces -- 78 sq ft and 603 sq ft,” said Mehta, admiring the pristine finish and happy with the additional area they have acquired.
“What SBUT has given us is definitely better than the old shop which we had rented out. Now with the new premises, we are starting afresh. So my family is yet to decide whether to continue to be in hardware business or set up something new,” said Mehta, who works as a swimming coach with an international school.
Farida Mansoori, 60, who with her 70-year-old husband owned an antiques shop at Mutton Street in Chor Bazaar, had dropped by to inspect her space on the first floor of Al-Ezz last week. “Our old shop measured 38 sq ft, which stored everything from second-hand furniture to showpieces, antique telephones and toys. There was always a rush during Jumma Bazaar. Now we have been given a 48 sq ft shop facing the main road. We are happy with the view, but we haven’t decided if we will continue with the old business or start something new,” said the Nagpada resident.
Shahidullah Khan, 63, a wholesale dealer in bread and butter, who operated from his old shop from the 1960s, said, “We had two shops and a godown measuring 122 sq ft earlier. Now I have been given the exact same area on the ground floor. They have delivered what they promised. I am looking forward to restart my business.”
Al-Ezz has a mix of shopkeepers from the Dawoodi Bohra community and other communities.
Besides Al-Ezz, construction work on another sector named An-Nasr (victory) is underway. Its foundation stone was laid early this year by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The sector is expected to rehouse nearly 1,400 residential units and over 375 businesses in two buildings of 51 storeys each.
