Kamathipura in South Mumbai was once infamously known as Asia’s second largest red-light district. The area was associated with Mumbai’s seedy underbelly and only the poorest of the poor made a home here. But Kamathipura is set for a makeover, with several landlords coming together to start a mega-redevelopment project here.

· Used to be Asia’s second largest red-light district
· Occupies prime real estate in South Mumbai
· Landowners planning on going for cluster redevelopment
· Developers betting on a makeover for Kamathipura

Kamathipura bets on cluster redevelopment

In spite of its reputation – there is no denying the fact that Kamathipura occupies prime real estate in South Mumbai. Around 700 of Kamathipura’s landlords are offering up nearly 53 acres of land for redevelopment under the state’s cluster development scheme. The plan is to develop it in a phase-wise manner, with 39 acres redeveloped in the 1st phase and 14 acres redeveloped in the second phase. 50% of the land will be used to resettle existing tenants, property owners and businesses while the rest will be available for sale.

“We have planned a cluster of 5 towers and 4 clusters of 5 towers each on this land .There will be 5 open grounds and 5 gardens as well, with all the amenities which one can dream about. There will be a gym, a club, swimming pool for the residents.” – Ajay Nakashe, Project Management Consultant, Kamathipura Redevelopment.

Kamathipura 2.0, a future property hotspot?

Now the next step is to find a good developer to execute this plan. The landlords have already reached out to developers like Marathon Realty and the Hiranandani Group, but nothing has been finalised as yet. Real estate experts say the complex nature of the project and the stigma attached may make developers think twice about investing here. However, developers are not ruling anything out.

“Similar problems existed when Parel was redeveloped. At that time people did not want the address of Parel. It is only recently that people think that it is very nice. So similarly, I think Kamathipura will be a different sector. It could be an upper Mahalaxmi for all you know.” – Niranjan Hiranandani, Chairman & MD, The Hiranandani Group

If everything goes according to plan, the redevelopment of Kamathipura will add at least 7,000 new homes to Mumbai’s housing stock. And with the government offering significant incentives for developers to build affordable housing under the cluster development scheme, the stock of affordable homes could increase as well.

Reporter- Ashwini Priolker
Edited by- Nikhil Narayan Sivadas