Luxury blooms in Doon valley

Neena Sharma

After living for most part of their lives in a two-bigha house in the Dalanwala area of Dehradun, Ritu and her husband, both in their early sixties,  are now looking forward to moving into a new  luxury apartment that theyhave booked with a city-based real estate developer  in the vicinity of Dalanwala on Tegh Bahadur Road.     

For Ritu and several other couples who have lived in huge houses in the greenest localities of the city such as Dalanwala and Rajpur Road, this shift to luxury apartments  stems from a  desire to have round-the-clock security, laundry services and other support systems on call, something which is difficult to get in their independent bungalows. 

 High immigration, excellent infrastructure, increasing per capita income have remained the key drivers of real estate market in Dehradun. 

However, despite the property market remaining lukewarm over the past couple of years, there seems to a surge in demand for luxury apartments in the residential segment in Dehradun and other cities  in Uttarakhand like of Hardwar and  Haldwani.   “There’s ready market for luxury apartments from professionals like doctors, chartered accountants, army officers, businessmen and NRIs. Even the rich parents of students studying in elite schools are investing in luxury apartments here”, says Deepak Mittal director of Pushpanjali Realms and Infratech Pvt Ltd.

Elevation pic of the upcoming Pushpanjali Upscale living project in Dehradun

His fellow builders like Raj Loomba, Inder Singh from IBM Promoters and Rakesh Sharma of Mahalaxmi Builders are all constructing  premium residential projects as Dehradun market has shown significant growth over the past few years.  “There’s no denying that the realty sector here has substantial growth potential, which is evident from a burgeoning middle class, high urbanisation, shortage of affordable housing, proposed development of new cities and industrial corridors”, says Nazia Izuddin, President, SN  Group & WIC India. Talking about the dmand for luxury living Mittal says, “The homebuyers nowadays  want to live in apartments that offer facilities akin to five-star hotels, complete with heated pools, clubs and valet services”.  

The company has launched three projects in Dehradun viz Imperial Heights at  Mussoorie Diversion Road, Eminent Heights and Pushpanjali Upscale living, a premium  luxury residential project in Dalanwala. All of these are in the high-end segment.  Both the Eminent Heights and the Pushpanjali Upscale projects claim to offer luxury products at par with  similar projects coming up in the NCR area. “The Upscale Living  project offers fully furnished apartments with a base price of Rs7,000 per sq ft, the apartments cost upward of Rs2 crore each. Along with other amenities, the  fully furnished apartments will have roof-top swimming pool, card room and party hall. As many as 21 self-contained luxury flats have been sold so far,” said Mittal. The Eminent Heights project offers 1BHK and 3BHK flats and are being sold as semi-luxurious flats. These flats would cost around  Rs45 lakh to Rs55 lakh.

Senior living 

Dehradun has long been a favourite destination of retirees, especially those from the armed forces. But in the 21st century the flavour of senior living, too, has got a ‘luxurious’ twist here. Antara Senior Living, a part of diversified Max is coming up with a senior living project those aged 60 years and above will have apartments in the price range of Rs1.5 to Rs4.5 crore. The project is expected to be completed by the last quarter of 2015. 

“The first of its kind facility would provide complete care to senior citizens. At Antara, we hope to change the quality of life of people and make life easy for the elderly”, said Tara Singh, CEO of Antara Senior Living said. Spread across 20 acres in Purkal near Mussoorie, the community would comprise 217 apartments with 1-3 bedrooms and about 50 wellness suites. Besides, it will have three penthouses priced at Rs7 crore each. The apartments would be built in the range of 1,400-5,000 square feet and the monthly maintenance payment would be Rs29,000 plus Rs16 per sq ft. 

Luxury holiday apartments

The trend of luxury holiday apartments witnessed in most of the hill towns of North India is also catching up fast with the builders here. A property expert said that besides targeting the local population, some of the  developers are also targeting buyers who are looking for second homes.

 “A trend is fast catching up in the hills of north India, where people are buying independent summer homes, which can also be rented out. As these apartments offer service support, the stay can be hassle free and convenient,” said Umesh Agarwal, a local realtor. 

The industry of luxury vacation rentals is taking roots in Uttarakhand and places that were already popular during the British Raj and other destinations such as the Corbet National Park in Ramnagar, Ranikhet and Bhimtal in Kumaon are attracting buyers. Himalaya View is one such residential project launched by the Exalter Group in Ranikhet, the project is offering luxury villas 1/2BHK apartments and studio apartments. According to experts, the builders are eager to add more and more luxury products in their projects.