K Raheja Corp promoters buy JK Lakshmi promoter family’s villa in Mumbai’s Juhu for Rs 265 crore

Ravi and Neel Raheja, promoters of real estate development company K Raheja Corp, have jointly bought a villa spread over more than two-third of an acre in Mumbai’s plush Juhu locality from Singhania family, the promoters of JK Lakshmi Cement, for Rs 265 crore.
The bungalow, Kamala Cottage, has carpet area of nearly 8,000 sq ft across ground plus one storey structure on the land parcel. The property is freehold and there are no restrictions of any nature on sale, transfer or usage on the same. Both promoters of K Raheja Corp have together paid stamp duty of Rs 15.90 crore for the property’s registration.

K Raheja Corp has recently bought BR House, the family house of one of the foremost filmmakers of Bollywood, B.R. Chopra. The company has acquired the 25,000-sq-ft bungalow spread over nearly an acre of land in Juhu for Rs 183 crore.

BR House has been acquired by the developer’s subsidiary Feat Properties and the same is expected to be developed by the company’s residential development entity K Raheja Corp Homes.

However, the Singhania family’s Kamala Cottage has been acquired by the Rahejas personally and is expected to be developed into a high-end residential property for personal use. Although, it could not be ascertained if this luxury development will be a villa or a high-rise tower.

The registration of the Kamala Cottage deal took place on April 29, showed the documents accessed through Zapkey.com, which aggregates property registration data.

ET’s email queries to Rahejas and JK Lakshmi Cement remained unanswered until the time of going to press.

The micro-market of Juhu has started witnessing more activity in terms of property transactions owing to the upcoming coastal road that connects Mumbai’s western coastline from Marine Lines in South Mumbai to Kandivali, a suburb in the north part of the city. The under construction 8-lane, 22.2-km long freeway is expected to reduce travel time between South Mumbai and the western suburbs to 40 minutes from 2 hours.

“The demand for properties in this micro-market, which is already known for its influencing social circle, is witnessing a serious rise in demand due to the connectivity and infrastructure overhaul. The proposed coastal road will come straight into Juhu where these luxury projects are, proximity to several clubs including Soho House etc makes it a hub for social activity too,” said Rajesh Desai, a property broker operating in the vicinity.

Juhu has been known for properties of Bollywood actors, directors and producers. It also counts many industrial and corporate world biggies as its prominent residents. Recently, actor Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaif shifted to their residence here, while cricketer Virat Kohli and his actress wife Anushka Sharma had also moved in some time ago.

Transactions for land parcels have started to gather momentum again with many deals including outright acquisitions and joint ventures in key property markets of Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore either being closed or expected to close this year. The increased demand for land parcels is led by sustained recovery in the housing market.