Redevelopment deal over Bandra West slum underway: Sources

While the real estate market is witnessing a slowdown, sources say a lucrative deal in Bandra, is in the process of being finalised. The slums near Bandra Railway Station (West) is being said to undergo redevelopment very soon. Sources in the market claimed that the Omkar Realtors — which has earned its name in slum redevelopment — is in the last bit of finalising a joint venture with L&T Realty. This development spanning over 4.5 acre of land is expected to change the face of Bandra West. Housing experts attributed such big joint ventures to the consolidation phase that the real estate sector is experiencing.

The Omkar Realtors is expected to redevelop the slum, while L&T will be taking care of saleable component. "It will be a 40:60 ratio between the two firms," said a source on the condition of anonymity. The slum consists of around 2,000 hutments; the habitants of these quarters, after redevelopment, will get free homes under the slum redevelopment policy of the state. The project has been estimated to cost over Rs 5,000 crore and will be one of the biggest slum redevelopment projects in the city.

The Omkar Realtors has a huge chunk of slum land in their possession; it has acquired the land over a period of time and now, it is developing these pieces by partaking in joint ventures. According to reports, in another project in Bandra West, spread over 4.2 acre of land, the Omkar Realtors got into an agreement with Godrej and the former will be redeveloping the slum area, while the corporate will take care of saleable component. Similarly, for the 12 acre of land at Dhobi Ghat, in Mahalaxmi, the builder has signed a pact with the Piramal Group.

If the current deal between Omkar and L&T works out, it will be their second joint prohect. They are already working together in Parel. A detailed email sent to L&T Realty seeking a comment on the talks with Omkar remained unanswered. Even the Omkar Realtors did not reply to an email sent to them. A source said that both the parties have signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Housing experts said that many developers are now getting into joint ventures because of the slowdown. "Such developments are a part of the consolidation phase the real estate market is facing for over a period of two years now.

Corporate houses are getting involved as individual developers have a cash crunch and their bad debts are high. Also, with the RERA in place, there's a lot of accountability and developers cannot delay their projects. The involvement of corporate houses brings along assurance for the customers; people think corporate firms will ensure that projects are completed in time."

Common Pact

Housing experts said many developers are now getting into joint ventures because of the slowdown. They further said that builders don’t have cash in hand which corporate houses take care of