Prize location: The Mumbai shoreline

Mumbai, March 31: The Wadias of Bombay Dyeing have sold an 8,000-square-foot apartment in Samudra Mahal ? a highrise in the tony district of south Mumbai on the seafront near the famed Haji Ali ? for Rs 32 crore in one of the biggest deals for residential property in Mumbai.

The deal puts the unit price at Rs 40,000 per square foot ? a record.

The Wadias refused to comment on the deal. Sources said the buyer belonged to the diamond fraternity but his identity could not be ascertained.

Samudra Mahal stands on a piece of land that once belonged to the Scindias of Gwalior. The entire area in and around the building was part of the Maharaja of Gwalior’s estate that bore the same name.

Sources said the duplex residential apartment owned by the Wadias had been rented out to the chief executive of the Banque Nationale de Paris.

Companies like Hindustan Lever Ltd and the Thapars also have apartments in the same building. The Scindias have retained one apartment.

Industry analysts said this would be one of the biggest deals, but there could be larger transactions in the pipeline as the real estate market was booming.

“It (Rs 32 crore) is a great price but I am sure there will be much higher prices being offered in the south Mumbai market,” said Akshaya Kumar, CEO of Collier Jardine.

“Residential prices are expected to go further up in the coming months. We cannot say that this is the biggest deal; there could be other bigger deals,” said Niranjan Hiranandani, MD of the Hiranandani Group, the well-known real estate developer.

Property prices in Mumbai have gone through the roof. Residential property prices at prime locations like Cuffe Parade hit an all-time high when a third-floor apartment in Maker Tower A was sold for Rs 12 crore. The 3,000-square-feet property belonged to exporters Abdul Latheef and Abdul Khadar. It was sold to Ajit Jain, a leading Mumbai chartered accountant.

This deal had come shortly after Citibank sold its 2,100-square-feet property on the 24th floor of Maker Tower B to stockbroking house Indiabulls’ executive director Gagan Banga at Rs 35,000 per square feet.

Banga had to shell out Rs 7.22 crore for the flat.

Deals like these have skewed residential property prices in Cuffe Parade. Even six months back, the prices ranged between Rs 15,000 and Rs 28,000 per square foot.