Crazy kiya re...Mumbai flat sells for a record Rs 34 cr

prasoon · 11-23-2007

Why are people going Crazy over a piece of property?

Quote:

Over tea and sandwiches at the Citibank office at Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex at 10.30 am on Wednesday, family members and representatives of some of India Inc’s top guns settled down to outbid each other for a luxurious apartment.

By noon, the country’s largest-ever residential transaction on record was completed when a four-bedroom flat at NCPA Apartments at the Nariman Point end of Marine Drive fetched a gravity-defying price of Rs 97,842 per square foot, or Rs 34 crore. The plush pad (No. 74) is located on the seventh floor and was put up for sale early this month by its owner, Citibank.

TOI has learned through highly reliable sources that the winning bidder is a UK-based NRI, Kewalramani (initials not available), who has bought the apartment in the name of Record Investments and Leasing Pvt Ltd. Sources said Kewalramani had been looking to purchase a flat in NCPA for some months and had earlier evinced interest in a flat on the 21st floor. However, the owner had turned down the offer.

The seventh-floor NCPA apartment has a super built-up area of 3,475 sq ft and a carpet area of about 2,100 sq ft. As laid down by Citigroup, only the top five bidders were invited on Wednesday morning. When the sealed envelopes were opened, Kewalramani’s quotation was found to be the highest at Rs 28 crore. But when the opportunity was given to everyone to raise their bids, the UK NRI went up to Rs 34 crore.

Others in the fray included the wife of the CEO of one of the country’s largest private telecom companies, who stopped at Rs 31 crore.
The wife and daughter of the chairman of a new private sector bank were also present and quoted the second highest price of Rs 33.6 crore.
An official representing an influential and trusted CEO in one of the country’s largest and most respected business houses, sat patiently, but did not raise his offer of Rs 20 crore.
A woman, who already owns an apartment in NCPA, was also present with a bid of Rs 29 crore.
A representative of a Bangalore-based developer also landed up, but was not allowed to participate as its bid of Rs 18 crore was not among the top five.

There have been reports of a few high-end apartments in south Mumbai being sold at Rs 1 lakh a sq ft. However, a large component is said to have been in cash, as a result of which, on paper, such transactions were smaller.

TOI, 21st November'07

prasoon · 11-23-2007

Reacting to Wednesday's sale of a four-bedroom flat at NCPA Apartments at the Nariman Point end of Marine Drive for a gravity-defying price of Rs 97,842 per square foot, or Rs 34 crore, which was conducted by C B Richard Ellis, an international property consultant, real estate experts have warned that this was a "freak sale" and is not a true indication of Mumbai's residential property market.

Incidentally, NCPA Apartments has been at the centre of some big deals. In April 2006, TOI had reported a sale of a similar-sized flat in this building at Rs 63,000 a sq ft. The buyer then was the confidante of one of India's wealthiest businessmen.

Flats in NCPA are owned by companies and not individuals. The National Centre for the Performing Arts is the promoter of the property. When bookings for the upmarket building began in the early 1990s, the rate was about Rs 7,000 a sq ft. But at the peak of the property boom in 1995-96, apartments at NCPA fetched about Rs 30,000 a sq ft.

Sources say a clause in the NCPA sale agreement stipulates that if a flat is resold, 50% of the profit should go to NCPA, of which half will be given to the government of Maharashtra. It is alleged that many sale transactions in this building are not registered because of this clause.

11-23-2007	#2
prasoon Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 16	Real estate experts call it a "freak sale" Reacting to Wednesday's sale of a four-bedroom flat at NCPA Apartments at the Nariman Point end of Marine Drive for a gravity-defying price of Rs 97,842 per square foot, or Rs 34 crore, which was conducted by C B Richard Ellis, an international property consultant, real estate experts have warned that this was a "freak sale" and is not a true indication of Mumbai's residential property market. Incidentally, NCPA Apartments has been at the centre of some big deals. In April 2006, TOI had reported a sale of a similar-sized flat in this building at Rs 63,000 a sq ft. The buyer then was the confidante of one of India's wealthiest businessmen. Flats in NCPA are owned by companies and not individuals. The National Centre for the Performing Arts is the promoter of the property. When bookings for the upmarket building began in the early 1990s, the rate was about Rs 7,000 a sq ft. But at the peak of the property boom in 1995-96, apartments at NCPA fetched about Rs 30,000 a sq ft. Sources say a clause in the NCPA sale agreement stipulates that if a flat is resold, 50% of the profit should go to NCPA, of which half will be given to the government of Maharashtra. It is alleged that many sale transactions in this building are not registered because of this clause.

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