As Cyrus Poonawalla shells out Rs 750 crore to buy the iconic Lincoln House in Mumbai, take a look at some of the most expensive bungalows bought in the city over the last few years.
1. Jatia House
Cost: Rs 425 crore
Area: 30,000 sq ft
A week before the sale of Lincoln House, another property, Jatia House in Malabar Hill was sold for Rs 425 crore. Jatia House was on sale for quite sometime and finally found a new owner, Kumar Mangalam Birla. The offer made by KM Birla makes this the most expensive deal for a bungalow in the country if calculated at the rate per sq ft.
The Jatias found the property too big to live in and were also finding it difficult to maintain. Currently residing at Altamound Road, Birla plans to use the sprawling 30,000 sq ft of built-up property for personal use.
2. Lincoln House
Cost: Rs 750 crore
Area: 50,000 sq ft
Originally known as the US consulate, Lincoln House was sold to Cyrus Poonawalla, chairperson of the Poonawalla Group, for a whopping 750 crore. The price however is 100 crore less than the reserve price. The reason for that is restrictions on redevelopment of the heritage property.
According to PTI, Cyrus Poonawalla has no plans to redevelop the property and will use this 2 acre, approximately 50,000 sq ft of built up property as a family residence. Just to get some perspective on how expensive this is, the per sq ft price of this 2 acre property is Rs 86,088.
3. Mehrangir Bungalow
Cost: Rs 372 crore
Area: 15,000 sq ft
Close to Jatia House is another iconic bungalow, Mehrangir, home to the father of India’s atomic energy programme – Homi J Bhabha. This was the reason why many people in the city wanted to preserve the property and turn it into a museum.
The bungalow however was sold to Smita Crishna-Godrej for Rs 372 crore. Smita has assured that the home where Homi Bhabha grew up will not be brought down for redevelopment. She too plans to use this 3-storey,15,000 sq ft bungalow spread over 1,593 sq m plot as a family home.
An interesting fact is that the property got Rs 115 crore more than the reserve price which was set at Rs 257 crore.
4. Kapadia Bungalow
Cost: Rs 270 crore
Runwal Builders, who have projects largely in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai, bought Nepean Grange, the 2-storey bungalow that was built by the Kapadia family in 1918. The 2048 sq m property has an outhouse, servant’s quarters and car park. The Kapadias settled the deal for Rs 270 crore. However, the bungalow also housed a tenant, the Lilani family, who demanded Rs 80 crore to vacate the property, making the total price of the property Rs 350 crore.
The Runwals plan to demolish the property and build a high-end residential tower on the land. The Piramals, Orbit Group and ABG Shipyard were others who were eyeing the property.
5. Bishopsgate
Cost: Rs 272 crore
Area: 40,000 sq ft
Bishopsgate, a property in the upscale Breach Candy area, was sold for Rs 272 crore to Peninsula Land Ltd, an Ashok Piramal Group company. The building was formerly owned by Standard Chartered (75%) and HSBC (25%). The building housed senior executives of both banks with 12 apartments and 12 garages. The property was of 40,000 sq ft built up area, which is now being turned into a luxury residential tower by Peninsula Land Pvt Ltd.
Wadhwa Group, Mahindra Lifespaces, Gammon India Ltd and industrialist D P Jindal, were amongst the other interested buyers. Jindal in fact wanted to use this property for personal use.
6. Gulistan
Cost: Rs 270 crore
Area: 13,000 sq ft
Mahindra Group’s real estate arm paid Rs 270 crore to acquire Gulistan, a 3-storey bungalow at Nepean Sea Road, in which Vice Chairman and MD Anand Mahindra was born and lived as a tenant until the deal was done. The property is about 13,000 sq ft and is opposite the famous Priyadarshini Park.
The Mahindra family’s tenancy reportedly dates back to the times of Mahindra’s grandfather, KC Mahindra. Anand Mahindra lives in the bungalow at present.
7. Aashirwad
Cost: Rs 95 crore
Area: 6,500 sq ft
Rajesh Khanna’s famous sea-facing bungalow Aashirwad on Carter Road was bought by the then superstar from Rajendra ‘Jubilee’ Kumar. The 6,500 sq ft home was reportedly sold for a mere Rs 95 crore last year to a businessman.
The low price of the bungalow was reportedly because of the legal notice sent to Khanna’s family by Anita Advani after the actor’s death claiming her right on the property. There were also rumours of the bungalow being haunted.
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