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MacIver Town Bangalore
Ask the cabbie for MacIver Town or its latest tag, Shantala Nagar, in this tech hub, and you’d elicit a knotted brow. But drop the name of Vijay Mallya and the city’s latest landmark, writes BR Srikanth.
Ask the cabbie for MacIver Town or its latest tag, Shantala Nagar, in this tech hub, and you’d elicit a knotted brow. But drop the name of Vijay Mallya and the city’s latest landmark, UB City, next door to his mansion and it’s a different story. The cabbie might also know where Captain GR Gopinath of the erstwhile Deccan Airlines lives — opposite the liquor czar’s place on Vittal Mallya Road. While Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw grew up next door to Mallya’s home (her father was a master brewer at United Breweries).
Lavelle Road, also part of MacIver town, is the other swish stretch of the area. “As a schoolboy, I have seen horses being led off to the Turf Club from Tiller Stables on Lavelle Road. It was a district known for the best schools and colleges, but has now turned into a commercial hub,” reminisces Amarnath Krishnaswamy, visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management (IIM-Bangalore), a resident in Bangalore.
Rs 15,000 a square feet is not a patch on Mumbai’s Altamount Road. The snag is that none of the sprawling bungalows here are up for sale. A few have given way to luxury apartments though. “It is without doubt the hottest spot both for residential and commercial spaces. I am sure it’s the dream of every CEO to pick up an apartment in this place because the best schools, colleges and medical centres are less than a kilometre away and you can stroll across to MG Road and Brigade Road on one side or stretch your feet at Cubbon Park,” says Feroz Abdullah, Managing Director, Feroz Estates, a well-known real estate firm. The elite Bangalore Club, Sunny’s, a restaurant favoured by expats, fashion and lifestyle stores Folio and Cinnamon and young hangouts like Mocca and Java City complete the picture.
