Despite the emergence of new growth hubs in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, South Mumbai retains an edge over most other localities and continues to be The Address for the rich and powerful.
By Nithin Rao
IT is home for India’s top industrialists, leading traders and entrepreneurs, hotshot professionals, senior executives of multinationals and celebrities. South Mumbai, that exclusive part of India’s financial and commercial capital, is also the most expensive piece of real estate, not just in India, but even in Asia.
Stretching from Cuffe Parade and Colaba at its southern tip, South Mumbai extends across Nariman Point, Marine Drive, Malabar Hill, Cumballa Hill, Breach Candy, Pedder Road, Tardeo and up to Haji Ali, all along the south-western coast of Mumbai. It also includes the eastern corridor and congested localities such as Fort, Kalbadevi, Pydhonie, Bhendi Bazar and Byculla.
But the toniest of localities are to be found along the western part of the South Mumbai, where apartments in prime buildings are sold at upwards of INR 100,000 and INR 125,000 a sq ft. Indeed, the biggest real estate deals involving super-luxury apartments happen in this part of Mumbai, where penthouses and sky-villas are sold for rates ranging from INR 750 million to
INR 1 billion or even more.
Many of the traditional affluent business families of India own apartments in South Mumbai especially along Marine Drive, Malabar Hill and along roads such as Nepean Sea, Peddar Road and Warden Road. However, many of the high-rise buildings were built in the
1950s and 1960s and some of the apartments are in terrible shape.
But the land on which these buildings stand on are gold mines and the apartment owners are reluctant to leave. One such posh area is Marine Drive, a 4.3-km-long boulevard from Nariman Point to Chowpatty. Mumbai’s most famous landmark is dotted with art deco buildings that came up in the 1920s and 1930s.
Unfortunately, nature has taken a heavy toll of many of these buildings, exposed as they are to the open sea, which turns rough during the monsoon, when heavy showers lash the area. These heritage buildings cannot be demolished and replaced with skyscrapers.
However, in many other parts of South Mumbai, tottering old buildings are being replaced by high-rises. One of the biggest redevelopment projects in the city has been undertaken by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) which has gone in for a cluster redevelopment project at a cost of more than `30 billion.
The project – see box – recently got the approval for the first phase from the Mumbai municipal corporation and the state government has also extended all support for it.
South Mumbai residents are generally reluctant to move out of the area and for obvious reasons. The area is considered to be a VIP locality – most of Maharashtra’s ministers, top bureaucrats and police officials live in the locality – so power and water cuts are unheard of. Mumbai being an island city, with the sea and creeks surrounding it, there is fresh air blowing all the time, especially along the western part.
South Mumbai boasts of sprawling ‘maidans’ including Oval, Cross maidan and Azad maidan, which are the lungs of the metropolis. It has bustling bazaars including Colaba Causeway, Fort, Churchgate, the two major railway terminals – Churchgate and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus – prominent schools and colleges.
Leading colleges of Mumbai are located here including St Xavier’s, Sydenham, Wilson, Jai Hind, Elphinstone, Kishinchand Chellaram, HR College of Commerce, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Siddharth, Government Law College, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Sir J.J. College of Architecture, and of course, the main campus of Mumbai University.
Nariman Point, which was developed on land reclaimed from the sea, was for much of the last quarter of the 20th century, India’s most expensive commercial district. Today, of course, it has been replaced by the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
South Mumbai also has several prominent places of worship including temples such as Mumbadevi, Mahalakshmi, Babulnath, St Thomas Cathedral, the Jama Masjid, the Haji Ali dargah, and several Parsi fire temples.
Considering the importance of South Mumbai, several top developers launched super-luxury projects in the area over the past three to four years following a surge in demand. But last year, just 1,500 residential units were sold in South Mumbai, and many luxury apartments in high-rise towers remained unsold.
According to real estate industry sources, many of the apartments that have not moved over the past two to three years have price tags exceeding `300 million. Considering the slowdown in off-take of luxury and super-luxury apartments, builders slowed down new developments.
However, following a lull, 2014 was a much better year and nearly half a dozen luxury projects were launched. Some of the uber luxury apartments have facilities comparable with the best in the world.
Interestingly, South Mumbai is one of those rare places in India, which has seen a steady fall in its population over the years. According to Census 2011 data, the population in Dhobi Talao-Bhuleshwar (once among the most congested localities in India) declined by 18 per cent between 2001 and 2011.
Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director, CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd, points out that South Mumbai attracted steady demand from high net worth individuals and expatriates in 2014.
But Om Ahuja, CEO, residential services, Jones Lang LaSalle India, notes that with the central business district (CBD) and even the diamond market shifting to BKC, there has been a dramatic shift of preferences for luxury housing Mumbai. “South Mumbai residents now show increasing preference for moving to
complexes in Mahalaxmi and Jacob Circle, giving up the standalone buildings they have been occupying since security and parking have become a challenge,” he adds.
Yet, despite the emergence of new areas in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, South Mumbai retains its own charm and many of the residents are reluctant to move out.
Transforming the south Mumbai skyline
BHENDI Bazaar is one of the oldest residential districts of Mumbai (then known as Bombay), which was developed about 150 years ago. It got its name after some British residents of Bombay were heard referring to the area north of Crawford Market as ‘Behind the Bazaar,’ which got Indianised. Another story is that there were some fields in the area in the mid-19th century, where among other vegetables, ladies’ finger (or bhendi) was grown; hence the name Bhendi Bazaar.
Traditionally, Bhendi Bazaar has been home to the affluent Dawoodi Bohra merchant community. Spread over 16 acres, about 20,000 people live in dilapidated buildings in the
area. The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT), under the leadership of the late Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the spiritual leader of the community, took up the redevelopment of the area after the Maharashtra government launched a cluster development scheme.
Claimed to be one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in Asia, it will see the demolition of 250 buildings – most of them five to six storeyed high – and their replacement with 17 skyscrapers, some as high as 60 floors.
About 20,000 residents living in more than 3,000 housing units – mostly one or two-roomed tene-
ments – are being transferred to transit camps located nearby. Once the new buildings are ready, they will move back to the new apartments. The residents will get free apartments of 350 sq ft, as against their old 150 to 200 sq ft rooms.
There will be several apartments that will be sold at market rates and NRIs from the Middle East, Africa and Europe have shown keen interest in buying them. With the project expected to be executed over the new few years, south Mumbai’s skyline will once again change, with many high-rises emerging along the eastern part of the region.