The Hindu Business Line : Godrej Planet setting a mark in high-rise

Godrej Planet in Mahalaxmi, Mumbai is all set to scale new heights in the residential projects space. The high-rise is coming up on a nine-acre site and the constructed area will have five 50-storeyed towers of 300 residential apartments. Two of these towers are nearing completion.

With prices riding the realty wave, this 6.70-lakh sq ft skyscraper's price tag has climbed — since booking began about three-and-half-years ago — from Rs 3,500 a sq ft to Rs 16,500 per sq ft today. Eighty per cent of the apartments have been sold, said officials at Godrej Properties Ltd, promoters of the project.

Designed by Singapore-based DP Architects, the towering structure is a modern design example of 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom, 4 bedroom duplex apartments and penthouses with large open spaces for residents to unwind. A huge swimming pool and a children's swimming pool, tennis, squash, basketball and badminton courts, besides a modern gym and an expansive clubhouse, form part of the grandeur. Besides adhering to the standard norms for high-rises, the promoters are considering a fire evacuation chute on the building's exterior and are in talks with international firms for this. The chute will be routed for safe and gradual landing of residents in times of disaster.

The towers will have high speed lifts — two in each tower apart from a luggage lift — operating at three metres a second.

In-house fire fighting equipment includes water tanks of 2 lakh litres with nozzles trained on the buildings.

"The structural design norms followed ensure that Planet Godrej not just complies with but excels the stringent guidelines specified for earthquake-resistant design in the city. Apart from modern fire alarms and fire detection systems, exclusive water storage tanks are provided within this gated complex for fire-fighting purpose. Property managers of international class ensure that the towers are maintained as per the highest standards. Three levels of video screening, including CCTV in all common areas and video door phone ensure safety of the occupants," said Mr Milind Korde, Managing Director, Godrej Properties Ltd.

Next to the Mumbai Port, the Godrej Group is said to have the largest land holding in the city.

In the pipeline

The company has about 16 projects of 20 million sq ft in the pipeline with operations in Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad. It is looking to access the NCR, Chennai, Goa and Kochi.The drivers are the IT and ITES sectors, and with their growth pegged at around 30 per cent annually, real estate will continue to see enormous opportunities in the days to come, said Mr Korde in an interview to Business Line.

Conceding that the housing segment was under pressure, he said higher home loan interest rates and runaway property prices had ensured that demand did not translate into sales. He was confident that prices in major metros would stabilise in the near future with the industry focus on Tier-II and -III cities, where mega integrated townships have become the norm of the day.

However, he said that the commercial sector remained untouched and insulated due to the IT/ ITES growth. Nasscom estimates the commercial segment demand up to 2010 to be in the range of 300 million sq ft. GPL is developing two IT parks of 3.5 lakh sq ft in the Salt Lake Sector V area of Kolkata.

Mr Korde said the focus was equally on affordable housing such as those built by the company in Thane and Kalyan, where it had built over 2,000 units of mass housing and row houses. "Over 6 lakh sq ft is in progress and we are looking at more locations for such expansion," he said adding that an 800 sq ft apartment at Rs 16 lakh plus stamp duty would be what the company would strive to deliver.

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