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Kathmandu:
Renowned Indian architect Hafeez Contractor is making his debut in
neighbouring Nepal with a high-end apartment complex in Kathmandu,
targeted for completion by 2012.
The 60-year-old, who has designed the tallest buildings in India,
the Imperial I and II, arrived in the Nepali capital Tuesday for
the official announcement of his partnership with Nepal's Golyan
Group that owns real estate businesses as well as Nepal's largest
spinning mill, the Reliance Spinning Mill in eastern Biratnagar
town.
Contractor's firm Architect HC is designing the Westar Skyliving
project located near the Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Nepal's first
five-star hotel.
The project will consist of two blocks, 13-storeyed each, with
sprawling apartments of 3,000 sq ft and 4,400 sq ft, priced
tentatively at NRS 3.5 crore and NRS 5 crore.
"The project is intended for the elite, used to living in their
own bungalows but now seeking other options due to security
reasons," said Vijay Agarwal of Westar Properties, the real estate
arm of the Golyan Group.
"The Group's chairman Pawan Golyan himself has booked an apartment
in the new project."
Spread over 50,000 sq ft, the project will leave 77 percent space
open, as Contractor's green signature, meant for landscaping and
water bodies.
A unique feature will be a 35-seater mini cinema that will screen
films regularly, changing them every Friday like the commercial
theatres do.
The deteriorating security situation, including regular
abductions, threat calls and even shootings in the capital city
itself, is now being used to their advantage by entrepreneurial
builders who are highlighting the security features they are
offering as the reason for millionaires to leave their mansions
and move into apartments.
The inclusion of gyms and a cinema would cut down risks further.
Nepal still remembers the murder in broad daylight of cable TV
mogul Jamim Shah who was gunned down in his car while returning
from a health club in a five-star hotel.
The project is expected to be completed by December 2012.
Contractor's team had already flown into Kathmandu earlier this
month to work out the design and construction has started.
Westar Properties, which is building a second project for the
middle and upper middle class buyer - the Westar Residency in
Lalitpur district - also plans two more projects in future for the
creme de la creme as well as the economy group.
The project for the super rich, which could be corporate
guesthouses, would include a golf course.
Westar Properties, which also began construction in Dubai in 2004
and now has 12 projects running there, is keen to explore further
tie-ups with Contractor, both in Nepal and India, Agarwal said.
(Sudeshna
Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)
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