Track2Realty Exclusive: Though redevelopment is the buzz word in Mumbai post the new Development Control Rules (DCR), some of the realty analysts are finding it as a short gap arrangement since the supply will be only marginally increased which can’t even meet the ever increasing demand. And hence short supply of the apartment added to the price appreciation will hardly bring any substantial change in the market dynamics of the island city.
Moreover, taking individual societies for redevelopment has its own challenges and the added load on the infrastructure is an issue since the DCR rules does not specify about the infrastructure augmentation charges on the existing apartment owners.
The debate brings to the table a debate on the holistic redevelopment of the city with the focus on increasing supply, taming the price appreciation and managing the load on the overall infrastructure. Mumbai Makeover took up the western suburbs as a case study of redevelopment with some of the analysts to understand whether a cluster redevelopment, instead of standalone societies being redeveloped, is the way forward.
Many seem to agree with it since rredevelopment activities are taking place on a large scale in the western suburbs of Mumbai such as Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, etc. With limited land resources, many developers based in the suburbs are opting for redevelopment of existing projects. Both residential and commercial real estate developers are increasingly gearing up towards new redevelopment schemes.
Redevelopment is no more about slum development. Redevelopment is a huge market, where a developer has to work with cooperative housing societies that can use higher FSI because of the new development rules. A large number of reputed developers in the western suburbs have already gotten into redevelopment of projects.
Manoj John – VP: Corporate Planning & Strategy – RNA Corp says the extent of development would be limited to the permissible limits as prescribed for the zone by planning authority, for which the infrastructure is expected to be in place. But, there is a possibility of a mismatch and civic infrastructure like water supply and sewage would need investment from the corporation, which is adequately funded by means of taxes & levies collected on these properties.
Redevelopment will aide in strengthening the infrastructure of the city; whenever a building is redeveloped more land is made available by way of setback for road widening & other infrastructure works which was earlier not available due to encroachments or unregulated construction. Moreover, bearing in mind the scarcity of land, redevelopment is not a choice any longer but an obligation.
“Large redevelopment projects or cluster redevelopment can be inclusive by creating its own sustainable civic infrastructure, except for the external roads & power. Smaller redevelopment projects would be incapable to contribute in that manner. It has become imperative that the development focus to shift out of city. It’s impossible to quadruple the water supply or drainage or roads within the island city or older development zones as per the demand of population. Hence new habitation zones have to be created with commercial zones to enable decongestion of the city,” says John.
..….to be continued
