India’s Tallest Residential Building May Have To Rework Its FSI
Palais Royale located in Worli, Mumbai has many firsts to its credit. The project is a tall hotel, commercial and residential tower developed by Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure. It is currently touted as the tallest residential tower in India.The building is India’s first pre-certified LEED Platinum rated green residential building. The building is also the first building in India to have fastest elevators that travel 7 meters/second and the building is at a breathtaking height of about 300m. On its completion, it will also be the world’s first environmental sustainable building.
However, a report from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) based on High Court’s directive may force the developer of the residential tower to rework its plan. According to BMC’s orders, areas within buildings exempt from Worli Naka buildings’ FSI must now be included.
The project
The project will have 100 apartments with areas of 8,700 sft and 14,000 sft (almost 90 floors high). Palais Royale will have world class amenities like a cinema house, spa, three swimming pools, badminton court, cricket pitch and a soccer field. It ensures safety and environmental sustainability in its each construction stage to become world’s first highest green rated building. It will also have 88 lakh square feet of total residential space.
Leading architects, vastu consultants, traffic and parking study consultants, kitchen design & consultants based in Dubai, global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry and other leading international consultants are working on this project.
Project Pricing
According to CommonFloor.com, the price for residential properties in the Worli Mumbai area starts from Rs. 30,000/sft and goes up to Rs. 65,000/sft. ‘Palais Royale’ is near completion and some flats have already been sold out. According to the source, a 9,200 sft duplex has been bought on 50th and 51st floor for Rs 60 crore. The project cost Rs. 65,000 per sft and additional Rs. 400 per sft rise after 20th floor.
The litigation and verdict
Palais Royale’s building plan was approved by BMC seven years ago. However, the FSI then did not include passages, refuge areas, structural columns and swimming pools. The project came under litigation when work on the tower began, on allegations that the builder had violated building norms. Shree Ram Urban Infrastructure Ltd (SRUIL) has currently constructed 56 floors. With the new report, the construction work has temporarily halted.
A public interest litigation (PIL) against the builder was filed by Janhit Manch, an NGO, alleging that the developer had violated several building norms. The court had dismissed several points in the PIL. The BMC’s report states that the building had violated certain regulations at times. This was evident in the construction from the 44th to 56th floor, while the permission was to build only 43 floors. However, the Mumbai High Court refused to give a verdict to demolish the 13 floors stating that the builder already had a sanctioned plan to build 56 floors.
But, the court directed the municipal commissioner to review the large areas sanctioned by the civic body. It said that the refuge area (fire shelters) permitted for the building was excessively large and directed the commissioner to reconsider the size of the fire shelter, which was exempt from FSI.
BMC Report
The BMC report states that the developer should reduce the total refuge area in Palais Royale from 15% to 4% as per law.As per building norms, the refuge area is 4% of total built up area and it is free of FSI restrictions. Refuge areas beyond 4% should be included in the FSI. The new report implies that the total built up area of the residential tower may reduce by 30%. It also states that passages connecting to flats, covered areas and swimming pools cannot be considered a common area and needs to be part of the FSI. BMC has ordered SRUIL to recalculate its FSI or the project will have to face BMC action which may decrease the number of floors.
A spokesperson from the developer said that the firm would seek legal opinion as the BMC’s order appeared to violate both the civil court’s order and Mumbai High Court’s judgment.
