Ahmedabad Projects thread

[Jai]

Finding three very interesting articles about this city in quick succession prompted me to post a new thread -- on what could be the first Indian city to really strive for a proper, planned, skyscraper-filled CBD!

Firstly, this article:
Riverfront a dream for local realtors?
[ Sunday, May 28, 2006 09:43:18 pmTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

AHMEDABAD: There's some bad news for local developers who have been salivating at the thought of sinking their teeth into the juiciest bit of realty in town - the Sabarmati riverfront.

The river's banks may not really become a playground for the smaller fish. Biggies like Unitech, DLF, Rahejas and Emaar may actually traipse away with the mega-deals that will be on offer later this year.

The government is planning to invite global bids for large chunks of land in the 32 hectares earmarked for commercial and residential development.

The government's view is that it does not make sense in splitting up the land into small plots. Instead, narrow strips of land stretching up to 1 km each could be considered the minimum unit.

As many as 20 hectares are to be sold for commercial projects and the remaining 12 hectares are allocated for residential projects.

What will make the project particularly viable for global and national players is the high FSI (floor space index) that is being planned to allow the building of skyscrapers, especially in the central business district (CBD) proposed between the Nehru Bridge and the Gandhi Bridge.

Confirming this, SRFDCL chairman Anil Mukim said, "The overriding concern is that the project matches global standards." The idea is that it will be easy to handle the infrastructural needs - like parking - if each developer is given large tracts of land. Besides, it will help maintain the desired skyline and synergy in design."

The invitation for global bids could be out as early as October 2006, the deadline for completion of walkways along the 11.5 km-long stretch between Subhash Bridge and Vasna Barrage.

With the urban design plan is on course, to be ready by August-September 2006, the General Development and Control Regulations are expected to be finalised by October 2006 after which global bids would be invited.

This latest twister comes after local builders were even given a sneak preview at a private screening by the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited earlier.

The only Ahmedabad-based realty player who looks capable of generating such resources is Adani group chairman Gautam S Adani, who has just bagged one of the biggest realty deals in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla complex.

"A proper job which would meet international standards is possible only if large chunks of land are offered," he said. Players like K Raheja Corp also can't help drooling. "We will certainly pitch in when bids are invited," said a K Raheja Corp spokesperson.

[Jai]

India's tallest hotel will soon come up in Ahmedabad!

Raj Travels to set up India`s tallest hotel for Rs 350 cr

Maulik Pathak / Ahmedabad June 06, 2006

Shree Raj Travels & Tours is poised to set up the country’s tallest hotel in Ahmedabad at an estimated investment of Rs 350 crore. The hotel is scheduled to come up at SG Highway.

Lalit Sheth, chairman of Shree Raj Travels & Tours, said, “The hotel will be about 40-storey high — the tallest in the country.” Currently, the 30-floor ITC Hotel Grand Central Sheraton and Towers in Mumbai is regarded the tallest hotel in India.

“Talks are on for a suitable plot in Ahmedabad. There will be about 500 state-of-the-art rooms in the hotel, for which a foreign architect will be roped in,” Sheth added.

The project is expected to be completed in 18-24 months after the acquisition of land.

“SG Highway is the most happening place in Gujarat. Officials from across the country and abroad frequent Gujarat because of its growth opportunities. Also, there is an international airport coming up in Ahmedabad. The hotel and convention centre will be there right on time,” Sheth said.

The country’s largest health spa will also come up at the convention centre, he added.

The convention centre will be able to accommodate 3,500 people. Besides, there will be a shopping complex, which will have only internationally branded garments. “With the Centre declaring 51 per cent foreign direct investment in retail, this will be the right type of outlet,” he said.

Sheth further said, “Ahmedabad has a great future, and Gujarat is witnessing tremendous growth under the present leadership. The state government is very positive about the entire project; our hotel will give the message to tourists and the business world that Ahmedabad has arrived.”

Shree Raj Tours & Travels is also set to roll out within a year 2,000 Volvo buses, each of which is touted to be priced at about Rs 90-92 lakh.

Of these, 200 buses will be deployed in Gujarat, Sheth said.

[Jai]

Dubai Realty Group to Foray in Gujarat

Business Standard

Gandhinagar, May 20: The world’s largest real estate company, Emaar group along with its Indian partner, is knocking the door of realty market of Gujarat.

Emaar MGF Land Private Limited is planning to invest over Rs 1,000 crore in townships, hotels, malls, and IT parks in the state. In the subsequent phases, the group plans to pump in more money as company is bullish about the state.

Emaar MGF Land Private Limited is a JV between Emaar Properties PJSC Dubai and MGF Development of India. Emaar Properties has a market capitalisation of over $40 billion and is the world’s largest real estate company.

It has to its credit projects like Burj Dubai project, regarded as the tallest building in the world which will be ready by 2008.

Talking to Business Standard, Shravan Gupta, managing director of Emmar MGF Land Private Limited said, “Gujarat appears in the second phase and intially we will pump in Rs 1,000 crore. We are planning to come with a township in Ahmedabad which will be spread over 400-500 acres.”

The phase two for Gujarat will begin after two months and the company is in the process of scouting land in various places of Ahmedabad.

“A four or five star business class hotel will to be a part of the township in Ahmedabad,” Gupta further said.

Going by the previous track record of Emaar Properties, the company has a tie up with Armani Group and Armani hotels have been a part of many of their projects be it even the Burg Dubai building. “In India we have plans to set up Armani hotels only in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore,” according to Gupta.

Gupta further said, “We have a panel of world class architects and the quality of our design in Gujarat will be without any exception of international standards. Ahmedabad has very good architects so we might rope them in.

Also, we are open to enter into a tie-up with a local developer, given that he has a good track record.”

The township will also have educational institutes, besides it will pave way for better parks and roads.

Emaar MGF will also set up a mall in Ahmedabad. “The mall will be two notches above the rest and will be spread in over half a million square feet,” according to Gupta.

Plans are also afoot to set up an IT park for which the company is actively considering the Gandhinagar area. The IT park is driven by end-user hence the scale and size will be lesser than Bangalore or Hyderabad.

Talking about the IT prospects in the state, Gupta said: “It is only a matter of time before it finds its rightful place in the sun.”

Emaar MGF is also scouting for land in Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot for setting up townships, hotels and malls.

“After Ahmedabad, our next preferred destination in Gujarat is Vadodara. Simultaneously, we will also concentrate on Surat and Rajkot,” Gupta said.

[ramkan]

Any update on the highspeed Bus transit? Did they finalize the tender?

[Naga_Solidus]

It looks liek Ahmedabad is foing to finally realize a not of its potential as an additional financial hub. IMO, if it rises up, it can help take the pressure off Mumbai.

[Effer]

So are they ever going to build a metro?

[2020vision]

Originally Posted by Effer

So are they ever going to build a metro?

This was in the news on 13 October 2003. I don't know what is happening right now.


Metro rail project development for Ahmedabad city to start
K Sunita

Ahmedabad: If Kolkatta and New Delhi can have it, Gujarat can have it, too. The reference is to the development of a metro rail project for Ahmedabad city.

The project has just been approved by the Gujarat Industrial Development Board (GIDB), the implementing authority for the state government's Vision 2010, the roadmap devised by former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel in 1999.

According to GIDB officials, a detailed project report and feasibility study for the project, which is estimated to cost roughly Rs 3,200 crore, has been undertaken. The metro rail system, proposed to be put in place between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar and north-south and east-west corridors of Ahmedabad, is being seen as the answer to the transportation problem and the increasing vehicular congestion in the city.

The overall project is in line with the metro system in Delhi. In fact, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will be given the work of preparing a detailed project report.

Say sources: "Although it is nearly four years since the state government announced that it proposed to introduce a metro rail service within Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, so far there has been no progress. If, even now, the project kick-starts, it will be a big relief."

The project envisages specially constructed rails that will be supported by a network of pillars. Metro trains will then travel at an elevation of about 10 metres above the ground. Most of the rails will be constructed above the existing road network in the city. It is not yet clear as to when the project details will be finalised.

Various projects have been pending with GIDB for several years on which not much progress has been made. The GIDB officials say 15 projects worth Rs 2,249 crore have already been implemented with the help of private sector participation. Besides, 28 projects valued at Rs 36,535 crore have been awarded to be implemented through private sector participation or as joint sector projects. Feasibility studies are in progress for 39 more projects worth Rs 15,401 crore.

GIDB was set up in 1995 and is the nodal agency for implementing projects under Gujarat Infrastructure Agenda — Vision 1999. It envisages a total investment of Rs 117,000 crore in 3,838 projects over the next 10 years in sectors such as ports, power, roads, rail, gas grid and overall urban development.

[Jai]

It looks like the Shree Raj Tours and Travels's hotel is now finalized at 42 storeys. From, Ahmedabad may have India’s tallest hotel

Friday, September 29, 2006 22:50 IST

AHMEDABAD: The plans of Shree Raj Tours and Travels for setting up a 42-storey hotel, India’s tallest, in Ahmedabad, are taking shape.

The promoters have initiated talks with leading international players like Accor and its Novo Hotel, Four Seasons, Shelton and Sheraton, for construction, design and management of the Rs 350-crore project.

“We are in talks with a few international players. But we are yet to finalise a company. Raj will finance the project and also look after its promotion,” Lalit Sheth, chairman and managing director of Shree Raj Tours and Travels, told DNA Money.

“This will be tallest hotel, taller than the existing 39-storey hotel in Mumbai,” Sheth asserted.

The company is studying some locations and could settle for a five-acre patch off the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway, said sources. The land will be finalised by the end of this year and the hotel will come up in a year and half.

The first 20 storeys will house facilities including shopping centres, the largest spa and conventional centre in the country and other facilities. The remaining floors will have about 500 rooms.

Shree Raj Tours and Travels reported a turnover of Rs 200 crore last financial year and expects to push this up to Rs 300 crore this fiscal.

However, it may not be India's tallest hotel, remember that supertall hotel planned by Bengal Shristi Infrastructure's Durgapur City Centre?

[Naga_Solidus]

Whatever happened to the Durgapur hotel anyway?

[kronik]

'It's the age of skyscrapers'

For him the sky is the limit. And if renowned architect Hafeez Contractor has his way, Aapnu Amdavad would soar as high as 100 storeys. Skyscrapers would rule the city's horizon. Pedestrians would stroll down SG Road on elevated walkway corridors, looking down their noses upon the traffic whizzing past at high speeds.

And the SG road too would get a complete makeover — 14-lanes, 200 feet wide with separate lanes, with green dividers for cars, cyclists and heavy vehicles.

Why can't Ahmedabad have skyscrapers?," asks Contractor,who has been advocating an FSI of a whopping 10 in Mumbai! But what about the ever looming threat of earthquakes? "If you do things properly, anything is possible. You can go as high as you want." His only advice to Amdavadi builders: Don't cut corners. As for the government, all he has to say is 'go for it, relax FSI'.

Contractor is convinced "now is the right time to introduce new laws because the best thing about Ahmedabad is they will see the light of day very fast". And as this happens, he's all ready to wave his magic wand over Ahmedabad's boring skyline with several projects in the city already lined up.

Like hotelier Lalit Suri's Bharat Hotels Ltd 250-room hotel on the banks of the Sabarmati at Hansol and DLF's 30-storeyed mall-cumhotel project on SG Highway. Even local developers are chasing him. He has already been signed on by Adani group to design their corporate house at the proposed 500-acre mega township — Shantigram — on SG Highway.

Ganesh Housing, too, is close to snapping him up for their 'Million Minds' IT SEZ project near Vaishno Devi on SG Road. But this vociferous advocate of concentrated vertical development believes in vast open green spaces and farmlands. "More than 60 per cent of land must be left free for green belts.We can't just go on gobbling land."

[Jai]

Mall Cum Hotel For M/S DLF, Ahmedabad

[Hindustani]

Jai......................Thanks. A bit of a let down for the tower design specially coming off Hafeez's desk. Too blockish & lacks sleekness. Lets hope Hafeez's 100F propozal will be ultra modern.

Originally Posted by Jai

Mall Cum Hotel For M/S DLF, Ahmedabad

[Jai]

I agree, the tower is bland though the podium/mall is rather nice looking

BTW, I don't think that a 100 storey tower is actually being proposed, I think HC was just speaking in theoreticals.

I don't doubt however that A'bad has plans for a proper CBD however, especially when the tech cities that it's competing with for FDI (Hyderabad, Kolkata) will soon have some impressive buildings

[29A]

Great!! atleast modi govt has done Something good. This is not the only thing that is going to fuel a major, and I mean a MAJOR real estate boom in the state. In the recently concluded vibrant gujarat meet, india's biggest IT companies have planned out investments of more than 40,000 crores over the coming few years for developing IT infra here. 2 IT parks are alread going to come up here in Baroda, and god knows how many more for Ahmedabad and Surat alone

[kronik]

And dont forget their riverfront project. There'll be goodlooking skyscapers on both sides of the Sabarmati.

[Jai]

Vidyapith Temple , Ahemdabad:


[IMG].[/IMG]

Religious Meditiation Center:


Architect Ajit Bhuta and Associates

[Jai]

This is an almost 2 year old article, but I just came across it today. It shows how big the plans really are for the CBD.

Posting it for posterity's sake:
India's tallest building to tower over Gujarat

[ 13 Jan, 2005 2236hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

AHMEDABAD: It seems Chief Minister Narendra Modi wants to stand tall. And fuelling his towering dream is a building, which if built, will be the tallest in the country.

On Thursday, Modi took the first step towards his dream building when a consortium of seven international organisations specialising in urban development unveiled the lofty plan to reach for the skies. Members of the consortium met the CM at the Vibrant Gujarat summit with a tentative plan of the building that could be a business centre, leased out to the private sector.

The building would come up in Gandhinagar, but the cost and the economic feasibility of the project is not known. The plan — presently very sketchy — was drawn up after Modi's visit to Hong Kong last month, where he met representatives of the Hong Kong-based consortium. "He was impressed with the buildings we have built in Suzhou in China and in Hong Kong. We specialise in tall buildings and are interested in seeing if we can take the vision forward in Gujarat," said Grant Robertson, director, Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Limited, one of the partners of the consortium.

"It is at a nascent stage. Once we get the green signal, the next step involves scouting for a suitable location so that the foundation is strong. Then we need to work on the finance part," said Robertson.

The existing tall buildings in the country are Shreepati Arcade (45 floors) and Belvedere Court (40 floors) at Nana Chowk and Kalpataru Heights (39 floors) at Agripada, all in Mumbai.

[vibs89]

In ‘Gujarat Discovered’ exhibition at Vibrant Gujarat international investors’ summit 2007, the most attractive stall was from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation which was about Sabarmati riverfront project of Ahmedabad.

There was a massive big poster showing Satellite picture of Ahmedabad city and Sabarmati River. There were some posters about how Sabarmati riverfront would ultimately look when it become a reality. Posters of Sabarmati riverfront were given free to visitors from this stall. DeshGujarat.Com captured a video of this stall. Along with this video you can also see photographs of Sabarmati riverfront project’s future projections. Remember, this is a long term project and has so many hurdles to solve.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mo5XJ-gg5U&eurl=

Renders

Source: www.deshgujarat.com

[Jai]

Beautiful! Thanks for posting!

The buildings look like blocks now, so it looks like it they are in the pre-design stage (hopefully!)

[VaastuShastra]

Wow - no other state seems to be engaging in such professionalism when it comes to development - a professional exhibition run by pro-corporate forces, a proper CBD complete with a futuristic looking temple, and a beautification project for the riverfront complete with full renders and models.