Residents of Tardeo's 112-yr-old bldg prepare to shed the old, embrace new

One of Tardeo's oldest buildings, the 112-year-old Petit Mansion Co-operative Housing Society is now up for redevelopment. Residents of the society at Nana Chowk called in tenders for redevelopment and recently held a meeting to discuss the hiring of a suitable Project Management Consultancy.

The building, a load-bearing structure, comprises of three wings. While two wings are ground plus four storeys, one is ground plus three. The plot area is 1,544.33 square metres, and the total carpet area (rehabilitation) of all existing members is 4,475.25 sq m.

Secretary of the building, Mukhi said, "We are following all the rules mandated for building redevelopment. We have received some offers and are in the process of finalising the PMC. The building isn't a heritage structure, it is a British-era structure."

The society is looking for a developer who would offer a competitive corpus, carpet area and sufficient bank guarantees and rent for alternate accommodations.

Most of the shops in the building are run by plywood dealers. One of the shopkeepers said, "Redevelopment process has been initiated, but the market isn't good. There's GST, there's RERA... big developers aren't taking up projects. Further, many precautions need to be taken, as we have seen many instances where residents have been out of their homes for years altogether. We cannot take such risks."

Another shopkeeper claimed that the building, in spite of being old, is strong. "It was built during the British era and is a sound construction. Around two years ago the society also carried out the repair work."