Affordable housing: MHADA eyes Parel plot redevelopment

“We have informed BEST that this colony can be redeveloped as a joint venture and are awaiting a detailed proposal. We will work out the intricacies once we get the proposal. We are likely to get about 1,000 to 1,500 tenements after rehabilitating the existing tenants. These will be shared between BEST and MHADA,” said a MHADA official.

MHADA is waiting to get the details of the plot size from BEST to take the talks to the next level.

The cluster,located near King Edward Memorial Hospital,is at least 60 years old. The five-storey buildings,which have 1,038 tenements in all,are in a precarious condition and in urgent need of overhaul. They currently house BEST workers.

Interestingly,it was BEST who approached MHADA to inquire if the colony can be redeveloped jointly as it was in constant need of structural repairs.

“We had conducted a structural inspection of the buildings and sent a proposal to MHADA. They have sent us a checklist of information that we need to provide. If the plan with MHADA works out,then we will be able to procure more tenements for our employees,” said O P Gupta,general manager,BEST.

First project under JV scheme

If the plan takes off,it will be one of the first projects of MHADA in Mumbai to be executed under its joint venture scheme,which was approved by the CM last year,where an entity comes forward with land and gets a floor space index (FSI) of 2.5. As per the scheme,the entity will get an FSI of 1.75 and MHADA 0.75.