Welspun India MD buys penthouse in Prabhadevi for Rs 150 crore

Mumbai

In one of the largest residential apartment transactions, textile major Welspun India’s co-promoter and managing director Rajesh Mandawewala has bought a triplex luxury sea-view penthouse in an under-construction project, 25 South, in Mumbai’s Prabhadevi locality for Rs 150 crore, said two persons with direct knowledge of the development.

The apartment is spread over 18,000 sqft on the top three floors — the 45th, the 46th and the 47th — in the ‘South’ tower of the Wadhwa Group’s project, documents reviewed by ET showed.

The apartment has been sold as a bare-shell luxury pad that can be designed and structured as per the buyer’s preference. The project is spread over five acres of erstwhile Hindustan Mills just 100 meters away from the shoreline of the Arabian Sea. While the buyer paid over Rs 127 crore for the apartment, the total outgo includes the goods and services tax, stamp duty and other charges pushing the amount to about Rs 150 crore.

“The buyer is also getting a total of 14 car parking slots in the project as part of this transaction. The deal has attracted over Rs 3.55 crore worth stamp duty alone,” said one of the persons quoted above.

Several calls and text messages to Mandawewala’s mobile did not elicit a response, while the Wadhwa Group declined to offer a comment for the story.

The project being developed by the Wadhwa Group and Hubtown offers ultra-luxury three, four bedroom and four bedroom plus family room residences across three towers with the lowest price of Rs 8.9 crore. In 2007, Hubtown, the erstwhile Ackruti City, and DLF jointly acquired the Hindustan Mill land from the Thackersey family for Rs 350 crore. In 2009, serial entrepreneur C Sivasankaran’s Siva Group acquired 50% in this land parcel from DLF for over Rs 300 crore.

Siva Group later sold its stake to PE firm Redfort Capital. In December 2014, Redfort Capital and Hubtown entered into a joint development agreement with Wadhwa Group. Redfort later split and following this, its stake in this asset is now being managed by Subhash Bedibacked Rising Straits Capital.

Plush south Mumbai and select central Mumbai localities have remained the preferred address over the years for super rich individuals and wealthy industrialists and the recent flow of transactions do not deviate from this narrative.

In February, business family Taparias bought four apartments in Runwal Group’s upcoming luxury tower, The Residence, at Nepean Sea Road for Rs 240 crore.

In June, Mafatlal Group scion Vishad P. Mafatlal, the grandson of late Arvind Mafatlal, bought a luxury duplex apartment in Lodha Altamount tower on south Mumbai’s tony Altamount Road for Rs 88.99 crore. Just two weeks before that, in one of the most expensive residential apartment transactions in the country, RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka bought a 5-bedroom luxury sea-view apartment in Mumbai’s Malabar Hill for Rs 45.2 crore from Citibank India.

Promoter family of Jai Corp, including current and former MDs Gaurav Jain and his father Satyapal Jain, recently bought ‘La Bonita,’ a sea-view bungalow in South Mumbai’s plush Breach Candy locality from the Mehta family, Sachin Tendulkar’s in-laws, for Rs 152 crore, including stamp duty of Rs 7.25 crore.