In Brands We Trust

Tata La Vida books over 200 flats costing Rs 300 crore in just 10 days. Can Godrej recreate the  magic in Noida, Greater Noida? 

Elevating the aesthetic of the Dwarka Expressway neighbourhood comes Tata La Vida featuring orchards, lily ponds and tree-canopied skywalk and sells over 200 flats in just 10 days!Wow!Considering the starting price of these units is Rs 1.08 crore and the market is down in the dumps as we all know, it's a remarkable feat indeed. Now the question is: will the other Mumbai-based realty firm, Godrej, meet the same response when it formally launches its Noida and Greater Noida projects? Only time will tell. Next year, UP also goes to polls and a lot will depend on the election outcome also. After tying up with Lotus Greens for its first housing project in the Noida real estate district at Sector-150, Godrej Properties has now partnered with Rudra AR Landcraft LLP to develop a golf-centric township in Greater Noida.The 36-acre low density project with a 9-hole golf course and villas will come up at Sector-27, next to the under-construction Amrapali-O2 project called The Hemisphere. “Greater Noida is an important part of the NCR market and this project fits well with our strategy of deepening our presence across the country’s leading real estate markets,” said Pirojsha Godrej, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Godrej Properties. The Greater Noida property market has performed better than other locations in the National Capital Region (NCR) over the last three years. At present, Godrej Properties is developing residential, commercial and township projects spread across about 119 million sqft in 12 cities. It had entered the Noida market in January this year with a development management agreement with Lotus Greens to build a housing project on 36-acre land parcel at Sector-150 of Noida. It had also recently tied up with real estate developer Ramprastha in a joint development agreement for a project in Sector-89 of Gurgaon. This will be GPL’s seventh project in NCR. Meanwhile, construction activities at The Hemisphere are going on at good speed. The project will have villas with 3, 4 and 5 BHK options with plot sizes starting from 100 square yards to the biggest being 275 square yards. The Hemisphere will have multiple luxury clubs, shopping complex called Alphasphere, a full- fledged sports complex, a wellness centre, banquet halls, hi-tech cloud-based security and more. Melbourne-based Pacific Coast Design has been hired as the golf course design company, which is responsible for site master plan, strategic golf architecture and innovative design solutions. Internationally acclaimed Khan Global comprising a team of over 200 architects and engineers from across the globe, including US, Spain, and the UK are The Hemisphere Architects & Planners.  

Supertech to hand over maintenance to Emerald Court

The real issue will be handling of IFMS money running into crores

Those who think buying a flat after due diligence is the safest way to go, must google and read stories about how builders can make your life miserable once you shift in your brand new home. In several cases, the RWA which is formed during the developer's time, can also play that role. Again, it's not always the developer who gets his sympathisers to form the RWA as it happened in Purvanchal Silvercity II case in Greater Noida where a handful of residents with mala fide intentions formed the association to finally get dissolved by Allahabad High Court. It's always the society funds running into crores that make these Realtors and dubious RWAs to cling on to maintenance, housekeeping and of course, security which alone costs a crore-plus to a normal socierty with let's say, 70 guards manning 15-16 highrises.That's a lot of money but hold on, there are two other major money earning avaneues: IFMS (interest free maintenance security, or sinking fund),and electricity recharge.Almsot all societies have single point connection these days, which means NPCL or UPPCL sends a single bill to the society. The RWA or the builder collects the money through recharge coupons issued according to electricity consumption.In the IFMS case, the money is deposited in a fixed deposit.But if the RWA wants to play dirty,it can take a loan against the fund or simply finish it off by hiding the fact from residents.Those who raise their voice against such corrupt practices are physically assaulted by hired goons. But that's another story for some other time. As for power recharge money,residents realise after three months that the RWA never deposited the money to the power company when the society power is cut.Silvercity II, AVJ Heightss and several other societies are proof it happens.Back to story of the day, Supertech Emerald Court residents protested recently and forced the builder to hand over maintenance to its RWA.You'll remember the RWA of the housing society in Sector 93A had earlier taken on the developer on the construction of two residential towers in Phase-2 of the project - Apex and Ceyane - which they alleged was against building norms.A legal battle followed, and the Allahabad High Court ordered the two towers demolished. The case has since moved to the Supreme Court, which has stayed the HC order as it holds hearings.Supertech conveyed its decision to hand over maintenance to the RWA after a sit-down demonstration by around 200 residents of the society, which saw its first occupants move in eight years ago, though it wasn't another six years till the RWA was formed.The residents also demanded transfer of all maintenance funds that they have given to the builder.The Supertech management also agreed to transfer accounts and relevant documents to the RWA.So far so good but the real problem that we see is the IFMS money running into Rs 8 crore (approx), which might start ugly fights between different factions of the RWA. We just hope the present RWA is able to take all residents along on the issue as they did during the twin towers' issue. All the best, but it's not going to be easy, mind it.  

The Mist-erious Tower

Eight months after start of construction, Mist also goes slow

The Bhasins of the Grand Venice Mall (still under construction in Greater Noida) swore they'll complete the 33-storey steel composite tower in Sector-143, Noida, in three months flat - which meant building one floor in three days.Launched in October last,this is where it stands today. Btw, Bhasins' neighbour on Expressway, Unnati, also signed a similar pact in steel with Jindals but we don't see anything happening on the ground. 

50,000 unregistered flatowners face Noida Authority wrath

Authority plans legal action against erring builders, buyers for living in flats without OC

Noida buyers are caught between the devil and the deep sea. Even after paying the full amount towards their flats to the developer, they are being hounded by the Noida Authority for living in unregistered flats. Homebuyers said they are suffering for no fault of theirs. “We are at the receiving end even after paying for the flat in full. The builder has failed to obtain OC and get registry execution done, not us,” said Manoj Kumar Sharma, a buyer. These homebuyers could not get registration done because their builders had failed to obtain occupancy certificates (OC). A registry cannot be executed without an OC. The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration has directed its stamp and registration department to identify developers who had not obtained OC and executed registries. “I have directed sub-registrars to conduct a survey and submit a report on the number of group housing towers and the exact number of buyers who moved into housing units without execution of registry of flats,” said S.K. Singh, Assistant Inspector General (AIG), UP Stamp and Registration Department, Noida. “Our survey will find out homebuyers and builders, who have not executed their registry. We will take action on a case to case basis,” said N.P. Singh, District Magistrate Gautam Budh Nagar. As per the Noida Authority’s estimate, around 50,000 homebuyers have moved into flats without registering them. As per norms, during execution of registry of a property, a buyer has to pay 5% of the total cost of the flat as stamp duty to the Government. If buyers shift into their new flats without registry, the Government fails to get the revenue. The department said it will take legal action against erring buyers and builders who had given possession of flats flouting norms. As per UP Apartment Act, 2010, a builder cannot offer possession of a flat to a buyer without obtaining occupancy certificate for a building. According to the Noida Authority, once a building’s civil work is ready, a builder has to obtain clearances from fire department, develop required civic facilities before applying for OC. “Once the application of the builder is with us for OC. We check all necessary documents. We also issue a public notice in newspapers inviting objections from buyers. We address buyers’ objections if there is any and issue OC,” said S.C. Gaur, Chief Architect and Town Planner of the Noida Authority. Issuance of occupation certificate is an important step as it enables a builder to offer possession of housing unit to a buyer and also execute property registration. Without an occupation Certificate, a builder can neither offer possession to the buyer nor execute property registration of a housing unit. The authority, which would otherwise take a few months in issuing OC, is now quick in its job, thanks to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav stepping in for distraught buyers, who have been staging protests for delay in completion of residential projects. As per Noida’s building by-laws occupancy certificate, which is also called completion certificate, is issued after detailed investigation by the planning department. A buyer can shift to his dwelling unit and also execute registry only after OC. The Noida Authority also issues temporary occupation certificate (TOC) to a building for a certain period with some riders. But with TOC a buyer can take possession of dwelling unit for limited time, but cannot execute registry, which is a means to transfer property title. On March 2, the Uttar Pradesh Government in a cabinet decision increased the property registration fee from existing 5 per cent of total property cost to 7 per cent in Noida and Greater noida bringing it on par with other districts in the state. However, the hike will be effective only when the UP Governor issues a notification which is yet to happen.