High-net worth individuals generally look for ‘bulk’ real estate deals in the same or varied projects as an investment, for end use so that multiple family members can reside in the same building, or a ‘good deal’ on pricing on account of distress on the seller’s side.
There can also be other reasons. Rekha Jhunjhunwala, widow of the late billionaire stock investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, was recently in the news for having purchased over 12 apartments in an old building located next to her 14-storey luxury Rare Villa in south Mumbai for more than ₹150 crore. The units have been bought to ensure that the upcoming redevelopment project in the vicinity does not restrict the view of the Arabian Sea from her posh Malabar Hill home.
These apartments were purchased by Jhunjhunwala, through multiple entities. The apartments have an average area of 2100 sq ft and are spread across an area of 26,119 sq ft. A stamp duty of more than ₹9.02 crore has been paid as stamp duty for the registration of the deals that have taken place over the last few months, showed documents accessed by IndexTap.com.
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Jhunjhunwala’s deals are not the only ‘bulk’ deals that have been registered in Mumbai. Several industrialists, stock brokers, high-net worth individuals have in the past bought multiple apartments to either book the profits earned from the stock market, to diversify their portfolio or as in this particular case to ensure that a redevelopment project does not potentially restrict the view of the sea from the uber luxury residence in Walkeshwar. The sea-facing Walkeshwar is undergoing a wave of redevelopment as developers look to cater to the uber-rich in South Mumbai.
Sandeep Reddy, co-founder-Zapkey, is of the view that “high net worth individuals generally look at bulk deals where they buy multiple properties in the same project for multiple reasons that could range from family members planning to stay together or a good deal on pricing because of some distress on the seller side, or perhaps they may want to redevelop the property on their own.”
According to Ritesh Mehta, senior director and head (west and north) of residential services and developer initiatives at JLL, most high-net worth individuals purchase multiple luxury properties to either hedge their bets, diversify their portfolios or to reap gains made in the stock market into real estate. The recent transaction is a unique case as the intent seems to be to ensure that the sea view does not get blocked on account of redevelopment.
Last year, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, had purchased five commercial office spaces collectively spread across 1.94 lakh sq ft in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Chandivali in Andheri West for a sum of ₹739 crore. The company, Kinnteisto LLP, where Jhunjhunwala is a partner, had purchased two offices spanning 26,422 sq ft and 30,172 sq ft on the 14th floor of The Capital in BKC for ₹123.99 crore and ₹145.33 crore respectively in October 2023.
The company had also bought a larger space on the 18th floor and 19th floor of the same building developed by Wadhwa Group Holdings for ₹331.68 crore. These office units 1802 and 1901 are spread across 69,425 sq ft. Collectively, the transaction is worth ₹601 crore and comes with 124 car parking spaces.
In a separate transaction registered on October 16, 2023, Kinnteisto LLP also purchased two office units spread across 68,195 sq ft carpet area on the eighth floor of Boomerang commercial building developed by Kanakia Spaces in Andheri East for a sum of ₹137.99 crore. The deal comes with 110 car parkings and the purchaser had to pay stamp duty of ₹8.27 crore.
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A look at other ‘bulk’ real estate deals in Mumbai
Eight members of the Halan family, investors in stocks and other asset classes, had purchased four sea-facing twin apartments in K Raheja Corp’s luxury project in south Mumbai for a cumulative deal of ₹104 crore. The apartments, which cumulatively span 16,000 sq ft, are located on floors 23 to 26 in Tower 2 in the Raheja Modern Vivarea project, which is under construction in the Modern Textile Mill compound, according to documents accessed and shared by realty portal IndexTap.com.
Worli’s biggest ‘distress’ real estate deal
In February 2023, D Mart owner Radhakishan Damani, his immediate family and close associates had purchased 28 units in a bulk deal at discounted rates in Oberoi Realty’s luxury project Three Sixty West at Worli for a total of ₹1,238 crore. The deal which collectively spanned a carpet area of 1,82,0684 sq ft included 101 car parks, documents accessed by Zapkey.com had showed.
These apartments were purchased just after the announcement of the new tax regime by the Finance Minister in 2023. The finance minister had announced that the capital gain tax benefit on the sale of property above the value of ₹10 crore will be withdrawn. This was expected to dissuade families from buying multiple properties if they have to pay capital gains tax and impact sales of high value property sales.
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Industry sources had then said then that the bulk deal appeared to be to bail out Sudhakar Shetty, whose company SkyLark Buildcon Pvt Ltd is the partner in this project. The company had taken a loan of ₹1000 crore from DHFL (now Piramal Finance) in 2019, and units were provided as collateral. Real estate experts had said then that lender pressure for repayments could have been why the flats were sold at discounted rates.
Around the same time, Oberoi Realty had also informed the stock exchanges that in line with a resolution passed by the company at its extraordinary general meeting held on December 1, 2022, it was purchasing 63 apartments from Oasis Realty for an aggregate consideration of ₹4,000 crore which includes a total consideration of ₹3,403 crore, stamp duty of ₹204 crore, and share of income tax liability discharged through Oasis Realty of ₹605 crore. It had informed BSE that the development comes ahead of the board meeting scheduled on February 8 to discuss the quarterly results.
In 2022, two apartments in the Oberoi Realty luxury project were purchased by Madhav Prasad Agarwal of Sajjan India Group and IGE (India) Pvt Ltd for ₹153 crore and ₹151 crore. The deal was among the top 10 real estate deals of the year.
Hindustan Times had reported in March 2023, that the JP Taparia family, the promoters of contraceptive maker Famy Care Ltd, had purchased six apartments spanning a net area of in the Lodha Malabar project in south Mumbai’s Malabar Hill for ₹369.55 crore, documents accessed and shared by IndexTap.com and Zapkey.com had showed.
In March 2023, industrialist JP Taparia of Famy Care group had purchased six apartments with a cumulative carpet area of 27,160.6 sq ft in Tower A and B of Lodha Malabar project by Macrotech Group in Walkeshwar, Malabar Hill for a sum of ₹369.55 crore.
In April 2023, the Aggrawal family associated with Kandoi Fabrics Pvt Ltd had purchased four apartments with a cumulative carpet area of 18,572 sq ft in the A wing of Lodha Malabar for a sum of ₹217 crore.
It should be noted that while Lodha Malabar offers unhindered views of the Marine Drive, Oberoi Three Sixty West offers views of the Arabian Sea and the cantilevered Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The Raheja Modern Vivarea offers views of Mahalaxmi Race Course and the Arabian Sea.
In 2021, family members of Mumbai-based real estate developer Raheja had purchased three duplex apartments spanning across 66,811 square feet at a high-end Worli area for ₹427 crore. The project is being developed by the group’s development firm K Raheja Corp. It was bought owing to the reduction in the stamp duty introduced by the state government to boost the sales at that time.
In August 2020, the Maharashtra government had announced to reduce stamp duty levied on the sales of apartments to 2% from September 1 to December 31 and then further reduced it to 3% from January 1 to March 31, 2021.
It should be noted that in 2020, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood had mortgaged eight of his Juhu properties to raise a ₹10 crore loan to help the needy during COVID-19.
