Rs 200 crore offer for Parsi trust bungalow at Bandra
Bids for a dilapidated, early 20th century bungalow property belonging to a Parsi trust in the prime sea-facing Bandra Bandstand area were opened on Thursday and it is believed offers in excess of Rs 200 crore have been made.
There were around seven bidders, mostly city-based builders, but the winning bidder was not known till the time of going to press. A trustee of the Bandra Parsi Convalescent Home Trust, which controls the property, refused to comment on the bidding process. “It is still in process and we would not like to say anything at this point of point,” he told TOI.
The bids were opened at global property consultant, CBRE’s office in the Bandra-Kurla Complex. A source present at the office said, “It was a successful auction. Quite a few developers participated. A couple of them were disqualified for missing out a signature or two. No names and figures were shared. I was told the bids were over Rs 200 crore.”
The source said the trustees will now have to inform the collector’s office and seek its permission for the sale. The property is situated close to Taj Lands End hotel. The trust ran a convalescence home here for poor women and children from the community for over a century. It shut down around 15 years ago due to poor occupancy.
Meanwhile, advocate and community activist Khushru Zaiwala has sent a legal notice to CBRE, opposing the sale of this Parsi trust property. “The land and building of Shirinbai Cama Parsi Convalescent Home is a minority public trust for the benefit of the Parsi community. Your appointment as a broker of this trust property is not only illegal, but per se a fraud on public charity, which can lead to both civil and criminal consequences. Please alert the intending purchasers and put them to notice that any interest in the trust property will be a nullity, and the purchasers may have to revert the property to the trust…,” said the notice.
The trustees had earlier told this newspaper that they want to monetize this “dead asset” and use the proceeds to expand the trust’s charity work for the Parsi Irani community.
