An artist’s impression of Diamond Top by day

The Calcutta Manhattan is poised to scale a new peak. Chatterjee International (24), Hiland Park (28), South City (35), and now Diamond Top, 41 floors.

Also, with all 84/86 units of this proposed super-premium residential project on Gurusaday Road priced between Rs 4.5 crore and Rs 7 crore, this promises to be quite a peak for the real estate boom in town.

?It will add a lot of prestige to the city?s real-estate industry. A landmark construction like this also sends out the right signals,? feels Santosh Rungta, vice-president of Credai, the national apex body of developers.

And is going up the way forward for Calcutta?s residential realty rise? Pradip Chopra, immediate past secretary of Credai?s Bengal chapter, feels so. ?The vertical approach means leaving more space on the ground and given the traffic congestion and chaos, it?s a much better alternative. Besides, if Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong can do it, Calcutta should also aspire to an impressive skyline,? he says.

Diamond Top, meanwhile, is set to redefine luxury living with ?multiple villas in the sky? in the heart of south Calcutta. The project, near the Gurusaday Road petrol pump, opposite the army camp, will have a five-star atrium entrance-lobby, swimming pools inside apartments and captive capsule lifts opening into lavish living rooms, a health club on the 40th floor, posh party lounge on the 41st?

The Rs 300-crore towers, being designed like a futuristic spacecraft on a 290-cottah prime plot, would be the ?most sought-after lifestyle address?, promises A.N. Shroff, who heads Diamond Group.

An artist’s impression of Diamond Top by night

?Being the tallest building in town would be just one USP. Each of the units will be designed as an exclusive villa, some spread across three levels going up to 10,000 sq ft,? reveals architect Vinoo Chadha.

?The crowning glory will be the glass-house lounge on the top floor, aptly called The Crown. It will offer the most astonishing bird?s-eye view of the city... With specially designed illumination, the towers can?t be missed from a passing aircraft either.?

A central tower carrying the core service elements will feed the two residential towers on both flanks through glass-wrapped corridors at various levels. Double-height terraces, hanging gardens, servants? quarters, high-speed capsule elevators and service lifts would be backed by a double-layered camouflaged parking plaza for 280-290 vehicles.

The plan provides for 88 per cent open space on the ground level. ?Once we have all the clearances, construction should take around three years,? says Shroff.