Hasit Dani, a member of the Asian Paints promoter family, has bought a duplex apartment in a project being built on the plot of Hindustan Unilever’s erstwhile guesthouse Alhambra on south Mumbai’s Carmichael Road for Rs 95 crore.
The deal for the 6,374 sq ft luxury apartment was registered last week and is valued at over Rs 1.49 lakh per sq ft, among the most expensive property transactions in the country.
Dani purchased the apartment from Hydra Trading, another Asian Paints promoter group company.
In 2016, HUL sold Alhambra, a bungalow built by the sultan of Darbhanga, for about Rs 170 crore. The property had been home to three former company chief executives–Manvinder Banga, Doug Baillie and Nitin Paranjpe. It hadn’t said who the buyer was at the time.
Dani has purchased the apartment along with his wife Shubhalaxmi. They have paid stamp duty of Rs 1.90 crore for the transaction that was registered on December 30, according to data accessed by Zapkey.com. As part of the deal, they will also get access to four car parking slots.
According to the documents submitted to the civic authorities, Hydra Trading is developing a 10-storey, super-premium residential project. The project will have four luxury apartments on the top five floors, including the Dani duplex occupying the eighth and ninth floors. The first five floors will be for car parking.
Asian Paints didn’t respond to queries.
Several high-value transactions are getting finalised and registered in the luxury segment of the country’s most expensive property market of Mumbai owing to easing prices and lower stamp duty benefit. These deals are helping drive volume in the luxury segment that had remained sluggish for nearly half a decade.
In a bid to kick-start the real estate sector by encouraging resdiential sales, the government of Maharashtra had announced a reduction in stamp duty charges to 2% from 5% from September to December-end. Stamp duty will be charged at 3% of the agreement value from January to March end.
The stamp duty reduction has not only helped convert pent-up demand in the mid-income and affordable segments but also prompted the conclusion of several large-ticket transactions in the city. While registration data has suggested more traction in housing sales in suburban localities, these luxury deals in south-and south-central Mumbai are also taking the country’s most expensive property market to new highs.