Dalal Estate demolition

Dalal Estate at Bombay Central, a complex of 20 buildings built in 1935 by Jehangir Dalal, is slated for demolition. Once a stronghold of Parsis, about two decades ago other communities began to occupy premises there, mainly Muslims and Gujaratis. Most of the current 300 tenancies are residential, though there are a number of shops at the road level. Now, according to The Times of India (TOI) of July 13, 2010, this landmark estate is to make way for a single 64-storey tower to be built on the site over a four-year period.

Nathani Parekh Constructions, the developers, informed TOI that from October 1, the tenants will be shifted to temporary accommodations and demolition work will start by the year end. Later, the tenants will be housed free of cost in the new Rs 300-crore tower. The developer informed TOI that the first two floors will be reserved for commercial use and the third to seventh floors for parking. A garden area will be provided on the eighth floor. Existing tenants will be accommodated between the ninth and the 38th floors, while flats on the floors above these will be sold at the market rate.

"We have already received consent from 95 percent of the tenants. It has taken us four years to achieve this,” said Hamid Nathani, managing director of Nathani Parekh Constructions. In addition to being given area equivalent to that which they now occupy, the tenants will also get a corpus of five crore rupees and a bank guarantee of Rs 25 crore in case something goes wrong with the project, which is among the largest redevelopment schemes involving pre-1940 buildings in Bombay under Development Control Rule 33(7) pertaining to old and dilapidated buildings in the island city.

For over 70 years the sight of the buildings of Dalal Estate was the first one to greet travelers arriving at Bombay Central station, located just across the road. The Estate was constructed a few years after the station became operational. The owner subsequently sold the property to an Ahmedabad-based trust. Few Parsi tenants remain in the now cosmopolitan estate.