Sixty not out: maidan set for record score
Calcutta's would-be tallest structure, an upcoming residential project on Chowringhee, is set to test the city's ability to digest luxury real estate in a sluggish market.
Every single apartment at 'The 42', the 60-storey structure coming up between Jeevan Deep and Tata Centre, is priced between Rs 16 and Rs 24 crore.
To the buyer, the net price of owning the cheapest of the 58 apartments would be not less than Rs 20 crore if the cost of registration and payment of stamp duty, withholding tax and car parking slots are added.
Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, CEO of the Mani Group that leads the four-member consortium behind the project, is confident there would be no dearth of buyers for a project like The 42 in the most coveted address in town. "Chowringhee is to Calcutta what Piccadilly is to London and Fifth Avenue to New York. Just by word of mouth, we have sold eight units. There won't be one like this anymore," Jhunjhunwala said.
The company has created a dossier of 500 potential buyers with a strong Calcutta and Chowringhee connection. A coffee-table book will be sent along with the brochure.
Real estate consultancies seem as optimistic about the property as the promoters. "This one, along with Atmosphere on the Bypass, is like now or never. The units will eventually be sold, today or tomorrow," said Jitendra Khaitan, CMD of Pioneer Property Management.
The specs match the prices. Each unit will have at least six car parking slots. Buyers will have the option of paying extra for larger slots such as one fit for a limousine.
And the cost of maintenance? Around Rs 6-7 per sq ft a month, which works out to Rs 50,000 for a standard apartment. That is equal to a month's rent for a 1,500sq ft flat in an upscale complex.
The Calcutta market currently sees 9-10 units worth over Rs 8 crore being sold a month. "The last three years have been pretty bad for this segment," Khaitan said.
Even then, 30-odd projects in this segment are in various stages of construction. Sudarshana Gangulee, senior general manager of the Mani Group, said The 42 would be completed by the last quarter of 2017.
Veteran advertising and marketing professional Ram Ray, who is associated with the project, described The 42 as a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG). "To conceive a project like this for Calcutta, which has a perception of 'nothing happens' outside the state, is a big leap of faith," Ray said.
The 42 stands atop other top properties in Calcutta by sheer unit size, although the price per sq ft is comparable to some of its peers. A unit in Atmosphere starts at Rs 10 crore. Shiromani, on Ballygunge Circular Road, was sold at Rs 21,000 per sq ft.
