Living in Mumbai on top of the world

During the monsoon, clouds float into the living room and kiss the walls. On a clear day, the window looks out over the Queen’s Necklace just a mile away. And in the winter, the open terrace garden is perfect for an evening barbeque with friends.

It’s the 44th floor of Shreepati Arcade at Nana Chowk, which is the residence of 51-year-old builder Rajendra Chaturvedi. His 15,000sq ft triplex apartment straddles the 43rd to 45th floors.

“During the summer months, one doesn’t need to go to a hill station — there’s a temperature difference of at least 5 degrees from the ground level,” says Chaturvedi. With a view of the distant Gateway of India on the left, upmarket Warden Road on the right, the Queen’s Necklace in front, and the Mahalaxmi Race Course behind, Chaturvedi has a 360-degree span of the best views the city has to offer.

He’s not alone. Such is the craze for having a home in the sky that people are willing to cough up steep premiums to live on top of the world.

“I paid a premium of almost Rs25 lakh for the 34th floor and I wish I could have bought another apartment here,” says 40-year-old Suresh Agarwal, executive vice president, Kotak Life Insurance, who stays in the 35-storeyed Oberoi Woods at Goregaon (east). Agarwal says waking up to the cool climes of Aarey Milk Colony is like living in a hill station, far removed from the cacophony of a bustling city like Mumbai.

Deepti Valecha, 35-year-old resident of Powai and principal of Eurokids, agrees. “The thrill of staying on the top floor with an uninterrupted view and breeze is hard to put into words,” she says. Deepti along with her husband Rakesh, senior director at Fitch Ratings India Ltd and their seven-year-old son Siddharth reside in an 18th floor apartment of Lake Lucerne, which is part of Lake Homes Powai.

Having paid a Rs10-12 lakh premium as compared to those residing on the first floor of the building, the Valechas enjoy the spectacular view of the Bandra Worli sealink, Powai lake, the adjoining hills and the airport.

Enjoying an uninterrupted view of the city is not the only reason people choose to live on the topmost floor of a tall building, says Ramprasad Padhi, CEO, mumbaiproperties.com. “Nowadays it is also considered a status symbol and people don’t mind paying a premium as it gives them a sense of having ‘arrived’.”

Padhi gets several clients, especially non-resident Indians and corporate honchos, asking for the highest floor. Price is not the deciding factor; it’s the million-dollar view that seals the deal.

The 60-storied Imperial Towers developed by Shapoorji Pallonji and Dilip Thacker at Tardeo, touted as the country’s tallest residential building, is vying to be the next coveted address in town.

The traditional areas in south Mumbai, where tall residential buildings first came up, have now given way to places in Kandivili, Goregaon, Malad, Powai, Thane and even Lower Parel and Mahalaxmi.

The premium for each higher floor increases Rs50-200 per sq ft, and the difference can touch several lakhs, says broker Kishore Chhabria of Linkwell Estate Agents. However, there is no shortage of takers for these high places. “Our apartment overlooks vast stretches of greenery and I will never be short of fresh oxygen,” says 52-year-old Vinod Menon, vice-president, Axis Bank. Next week, he will be moving into the 18th floor of the 30-storeyed Kalpataru Tower at Kandivili (east).