Fili Villa, the sprawling 6,000 square foot Swiss Chalet-styled home of the former managing director of Alfa Laval India, Ms Lila Poonawala, and her husband Feroze, in Pune, is set to become a museum, as the couple is building a stylish residential high-rise on part of the remaining area of the one-acre-plus plot.

Being developed in partnership with Nirmiti Developers and Guardian Promoters, each of the 11 floors of Fili Villa apartments in Baner will house two apartments, and be ready by early 2014. Entry is likely to be by invitation only. The price of Fili Villa apartments will range from Rs 1.75 crore to Rs 2 crore for sizes 2,300-2,800 square feet.

“The proceeds of this development will go to the Lila Poonawala Foundation,” says Ms Lila, who will move into an apartment once it is ready. The couple's present home houses a huge collection of bric-a-brac collected during extensive travels to nearly 70 countries.

“We want to see this museum project through while we are around,” explains Feroze.

Eventually the place will become the property of the Foundation, which funds education for more than 50 girls in post-graduate, engineering, and the pure sciences streams, and this year brought an additional 110 school girls into its fold, providing aid for them from the 7th standard to their tertiary studies.

Discounted flats bets on better deals

Discounted Flats (DF), a group home-buying movement that aims at assisting home-buyers, to help them buy homes at a relatively cheaper rate, has been launched in Pune.

A pre-formed group of buyers is the best way to get a good deal from developers, says Mr Sandeep Sugla, CEO, Discounted Flats, adding that DF will negotiate on their behalf with developers to save Rs 100-300 per square feet on the properties.

The deals will be effected through DF's portal, tie-up with brokers, as well as brick and mortar offices in all metros and sub-metros, and a call centre of 40 agents.

Buyers will be provided with an aerial view of all properties located in the 3 km radius, from their preferred destinations, and consolidated comparative data on budget, distance, possession status and price etc.

DF is currently running 7,600 residential project-specific groups, and 2,000 location and budget-centric groups. The cities covered presently are Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and the headquarters Pune, and there are plans to expand to other cities soon.

Homes for senior citizens

The Coimbatore-based Covai Property Centre, a leading developer of retirement homes, has announced plans to expand to a number of major cities and towns.

At the formal launch of plans for a 220-apartment project, its first senior citizens-focussed, retirement community-focussed development project in Chennai, Mr A. Sridharan, Managing Director, Covai Property Centre (India) Pvt Ltd, said the company also plans to launch projects in Pondicherry, Mysore, Hyderabad and Pune. It is also expanding its presence at its base in Coimbatore.

The Chennai project, Serene Adinath, is coming up at Vandalur, approximately 20 km south of the city, and a kilometre off the GST Road. The apartments, of size 517-1,063 square feet, will be priced between Rs 19 lakh and Rs 40 lakh.

Covai Property's target market is customers who are 50-years and above, who are planning for a comfortable retirement.

Covai Property has established itself more as a service provider for its customers, rather than a real estate developer, emphasises Mr Sridharan. The apartments, specifically designed, keeping in mind the elderly, will also have stretcher lifts for emergency evacuations, among other facilities. A range of services, such as medical and nursing facilities, assisted care, centralised kitchen with dining facilities, will also be on offer.

Serene Retirement Communities pioneer the concept of affordable retirement housing. Serene Adinath will be a part of Adinath Shanthinikethan Gated Community, a project by a Chennai-based developer, which will be spread across 8.6 acres, and will be completed in 3 phases. Covai Property is also planning to tie up with a US-based care provider to widen its support service for the elderly, he said.

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