Mumbai: Bandra-based society to organise self-redevelopment

A Bandra-based society has decided to redevelop their building by themselves rather than through the developer. Initially, when the residents of Samadhan society got a developer, he said the nearly Rs 37 crore premium to be paid to MHADA was too large an amount for him.

The members have already floated a tender to allot and architect for the project, and expect the redeveloped houses to be over 900 square feet than the current 220 sq ft. The plan also includes competing with developers in nearby areas with regards to selling additional flats after redevelopment.

Samadhan is located on MHADA land in Bandra west. The building stands on an area of nearly 660 sq mts, and is a ground-plus-two-storey structure, with 24 tenants residing.

Dr Nilim Vaidya, the chairman of the society, said, "We had selected our developer in 2013. However, redevelopment was stalled because the Government Resolution (in case of buildings on Mhada land) was not released. On July 3 last year, the GR was released. However, our developer gave us a letter and an NOC on June 12 this year about his inability to proceed with the project because of heavy premium of MHADA. We met Chandrashekhar Prabhu (housing expert) on June 18 and invited him to our building on June 28. Deputy manager of Mumbai Bank, Uday Dalvi also attended the meeting. On July 1, we passed a resolution for self-redevelopment in our special general body meeting. We are now in the process of selection of PMC and Planning Architect under the guidance of Prabhu sir."

The premium, according to Vaidya, comes to Rs 37 crore which has to be paid to MHADA, but will be paid by the society. "We are now going for a loan for the overall construction. The total expenditure is up to Rs 70 crore, this even includes the premium to be paid to MHADA. We are in talks with Mumbai Bank. If it doesn't work, we will also look for other banks and institutions too," said Vaidya.

The FSI available for the plot is that of 3, and when redeveloped, the society expects that they will be able to get a height of up to 20-21 storey. Bhalchandra Devadiga, secretary of the society said that a developer wouldn't have been able to offer.

According to Vaidya, the society, aims of constructing a building that will be able to compete with top developers in the nearby location. "We will be constructing smaller apartments in the premises for sale, and hence, we also will be constructing the building that will be at par of the buildings beings constructed by the top developers, so that we can also attract home buyers."