Jindal to redevelop Morena House? Six months after his plans to sell Morena House fell through, steel magnate Sajjan Jindal is learnt to be planning to redevelop the 1,623-sqm bungalow on Carmichael Road on his own.     The industrialist is already interacting with well-known architects on the nitty-gritties of constructing a luxury residential building on the plot.     A Jindal spokesperson refused to comment. However, experts close to Jindal confirmed the development and said the industrialist was in the process of setting up a real estate division to develop his property. The division will then handle sale of the apartments. Morena House has a development potential of approximately 50,000 sq ft.     “While the move does not necessarily mean that Jindal will enter the realty sector, the division will help in redevelopment of Morena House as well as Maheshwari House,” an expert said. (See box)     According to real estate experts, Jindal got thinking of redeveloping the property as he was not receiving good offers for Morena House. “Most offers were below Rs 300 crore, far less than the Rs 320 crore quoted by Ajay Mittal of Arshiya International in August 2011,” said the expert. However, three months later, in December, after giving it a second thought, Mittal called off the deal for the onestorey bungalow. He apparently thought the property was overpriced compared to market rate.     Sources said no good offers came for Morena House due to its location, where building heights have to be kept in resonance with the neighbourhood. “One can construct up to 75 ft, or say six floors. The advantages of constructing a building on an uphill slope is therefore limited,” said a property broker. 200-crore deal at Nepean Sea Road Last week, Jindal inked a deal to acquire Maheshwari House, a seafacing three-storey bungalow on Nepean Sea Road. He has bought the property for nearly Rs 200 crore from Manoj Maheshwari, who had stalled the transaction, involving the latter’s family members as sellers. Last year, Jindal had paid Rs 300 crore to Maheshwari’s family members as part of the over Rs 500-crore transaction, making it one of the most expensive residential property deals in the country. Maheshwari’s consent involves a go-ahead for transfer of the neighbouring fivestorey Maheshwari Mansion on the same plot. It will be redeveloped jointly by Jindal and Orbit Group. The two structures are spread over more than an acre. Rates in this locality hover around 85,000 a sq ft. TNN Post a Comment: