You thought 60-storey is the highest one can go up in the city? You were wrong. A 75-storey world-class hotel-cum-residential tower is coming up in Charni Road
You thought 60-storey is the highest one can go up in the city? You were wrong. A 75-storey world-class hotel-cum-residential tower is coming up in Charni Road
The battle of builders is reaching for the sky. Determined to ‘tower’ over Shapoorji Pallonji-Dilip Thakkar, developers of India’s first skyscraper - a 60-storey twin tower in Tardeo, Neelkamal Realtors, a subsidiary of the low-profile Dynamix Balwa Group, is coming up with a 75-storey world-class hotel-cum-residential tower in Charni Road.
Located a stone’s throw away from Charni Road station and SK Patil Udyan on Maharshi Karve Road, the 75-storey building, scheduled to be completed in 2011, will cost Rs1,100-crore, and will be managed by Park Hyatt.
With a built-up space of 9 lakh sq ft, the tower, coming up on the plot where Ruby Garage once stood, will offer a panoramic view of the Arabian Sea. Vinod Goenka, chairman of DB Group, said, “Construction will be in full swing after the rains. We are awaiting the state government’s decision as to how much floor space index (FSI) we can consume, since the plot falls in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).”
As per ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) rules on CRZ, a developer under the 1991 development control rules (DCR )can get an FSI of only 1.33. But Goenka is not a worried man. He has started work, using the sanctioned FSI of 1, but is certain of getting a much higher FSI.
He is confident because the Supreme Court, in December 2007, directed the state to consider Goenka’s request for an FSI upto 6.29. The apex court passed the order on a petition filed by Goenka seeking higher FSI, based on the 1967 DCR instead of the prevailing 1991 DCR.
Goenka said, “Hotels like Oberoi, President in south Mumbai have consumed higher FSI of over 5 under the 1967 DCR. We asked for a similar benefit. The civic body wanted to apply the 1991 DCR, but the apex court held it was not applicable to our project for two reasons. Firstly, the 1991 DCR does not specify the FSI a hotel can consume. Secondly, the CRZ notification freezing FSI came after the 1991 DCR.”
However, the urban development (UD) department, headed by chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, is yet to take a decision on the issue. The delay is not without reason. Other star hotels in the city too have begun petitioning the government for similar development rights to raise the height of their buildings.
Those include Sea Rock Hotel in Bandra, Sahara Star at Vile Parle and another five star hotel in south Mumbai.
Senior UD officials are in ardent consultation to find a way to tackle the situation, otherwise there is the danger of DB Group filing a contempt of court petition against the government for not complying with the apex court order.
“If we allow (higher FSI) one and deny the others, the government will be accused of being partial and corrupt,” said an UD official.
m_rajshri@dnaindia.net
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