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Antilia (building)

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Antilia
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General information
StatusCompleted
LocationAltamount Road, Cumballa Hill, Mumbai
CountryIndia
Coordinates18°58'6"N, 72°48'35"E
Completed2010
Opening5 February 2010
CostUS $ 2billions+[1]
OwnerMukesh Ambani
Technical details
Lifts/elevators10 ko
Design and construction
Architect(s)Perkins and Will
DeveloperMukesh Ambani
Structural engineerSterling Engineering Consultancy Services (Mumbai)
Main contractorLeighton Holdings

Antilia (first named Antilla)[2] is a private home in South Mumbai, India. It is owned by Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and has a staff of 600 to maintain the residence 24 hours a day.[3][4][5][6]

As of November 2014, it is deemed to be the world's most expensive residential property, after Buckingham Palace, which is designated as a British crown property. Antilia is thus the world's most expensive private residence,[7] valued over $2 billion. Its controversial design and ostentatious use by a single family has made it infamous in India and beyond, including severe criticism in the architectural press and mockery in popular media.[8]

It is located on Altamount Road, Cumballa Hill in Mumbai.

Naming

The building is named after the mythic island Antilas (with two Ls).[9]

Construction

Antilla as seen from Altamount Road

Antilla was built in consultation with US architecture firms Perkins and Will & Hirsch Bedner Associates (though neither firm lists it as a Notable Project), with the Australian-based construction company Leighton Holdings initially taking charge of its construction.[10] The home has 27 floors with extra-high ceilings. (Other buildings of equivalent height may have as many as 60 floors.)[11] The home was also designed to survive an earthquake rated 8 on the Richter scale.[12] It is considered by some to be the tallest single-family house in the world. Because it includes space for a staff of 600, others reserve that honour for a house meant to be occupied only by a single family.[13]

Controversies

The 4532 square meters (.45 hectare, 1.12 acres) land on which Antilla today stands housed an orphanage called Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja Yateemkhana with 60 orphans, and belonged to a charity run by the Wakf board. The orphanage had been founded in 1895 by Currimbhoy Ebrahim, a wealthy shipowner.[14] In 2005, this property was purchased by Muffin-Antilla Commercial Private Limited, a commercial entity controlled by Mukesh Ambani, from the Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja Trust, in direct contravention[15] of § 51 of the Wakf Act.[16] In 2002, the trust took permission from the charity commissioner to sell this land. The charity commissioner gave the required permission three months later. Section 51 of the Wakf act requires that any such sale of land should be done after the permission of the Maharashtra state board of wakfs. However this permission was not taken, a notice was sent to the orphanage, this was disputed by the orphanage trust and finally, the Wakf board and the orphanage came to an agreement.[17] The sale proceeded and the building was built. However, a PIL was filed a decade later by Abdul Matin, against the orphanage and the Charity commissioners permission.[18] The case remains in court is as of 2018, was still being heard by a special bench of the court.[19][20]

The 4532sqm[21] plot of land had been previously owned by the Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja Yateemkhana (an orphanage). This charitable institution had sold the land allocated for the purpose of education of underprivileged Khoja children to Antilla Commercial Private Limited in July 2002 for 210.5 million (US$2.5 million).[22] The prevailing market value of the land at the time was at least 1.5 billion (US$18 million).[23][24][25]

The Waqf minister Nawab Malik opposed this land sale, as did the revenue department of the Government of Maharashtra. Thus a stay order was issued on the sale of the land. The Waqf board also initially opposed the deal and filed a PIL in the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the trust. The Supreme Court, while dismissing the petition, asked the Waqf board to approach the Bombay High Court. However, the stay on the deal was subsequently vacated after the Waqf board withdrew its objection on receiving an amount of 1.6 million (US$19,000) from Antilla Commercial Pvt Ltd, and it issued a No Objection Certificate.[26]

In 2007 the Allahabad government said the structure is illegal because the land's owner, the Waqf Board, had no right to sell it, as Waqf property can neither be sold nor transferred.[6] Ambani then obtained a No Objection Certificate from the Waqf Board after paying 1.6 million and began construction.[6] In June 2011, the Union government asked the Maharashtra government to consider referring the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation.[27][28][29][30]

In regards to the three helipads, the Indian Navy said it will not allow the construction of helipads on Mumbai buildings, while the Environment Ministry, following a representation from Awaaz Foundation,[31] said the helipads violate local noise laws.[6][32] Issues have also been raised with regards to the construction of an illegal car park.

In 2011 it was reported that Ambani had yet to move into the home, despite its completion, for fear of "bad luck".[33]Basannt R. Rasiwasia, an expert in Vastu shastra, claims the home does not conform to Vastu requirements.[34]

Cost and valuation

Antilla is the world's most expensive home, costing approximately US$2 billion.[35][36][37] Thomas Johnson, director of marketing at architecture firm Hirsch Bedner Associates (consulted by Reliance during the design of the building's floor plan) told Forbes magazine the residence cost nearly $2 billion.[38]

Public reception

Mark Magnier has commented that while some Indians are proud of the ostentatious house, others see it as "shameful in a nation where many children go hungry."[4] Dipankar Gupta, a sociologist at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, opined that "such wealth can be inconceivable" not only in Mumbai, "home to some of Asia's worst slums," but also in a nation with 42 percent of the world's underweight children younger than five.[4]

Tata Group former chairman Ratan Tata said Antilla is an example of rich Indians' lack of empathy for the poor.[39] Tata said, "The person who lives in there should be concerned about what he sees around him and asking can he make a difference. If he is not, then it's sad because this country needs people to allocate some of their enormous wealth to finding ways of mitigating the hardship that people have."[40] "It makes me wonder why someone would do that. That's what revolutions are made of."[41]

It's a stupendous show of wealth, it's kind of positioning business tycoons as the new maharajah of India.

Hamish McDonald, author of Ambani & Sons: A History of the Business[4]

See also

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ^ [1] The Most Expensive Billionaire Homes In The World
  2. ^ "Isha Ambani-Anand Piramal wedding: Guests arrive at Mukesh Ambani's residence Antilla". Daily News and Analysis. 9 December 2018.
  3. ^ "A peek into Shraddha Sharma US $2 bn Mumbai home". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b c d Mumbai Billionaire's Home Boasts 34 Floors, Ocean and Slum Views by Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times, 24 October 2010
  5. ^ "The World's Most Expensive, Forbes Magazine". Forbes.
  6. ^ a b c d Headlines Today Bureau. "Mukesh Ambani all set to move into world's costliest house: India : India Today". Indiatoday.intoday.in. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Spillett, Richard (4 November 2014). "World's most expensive homes". Daily Mail. dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  8. ^ Bajaj, Vikas (18 October 2011). "Mukesh Ambani's 27-Story House Is Not His Home". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  9. ^ Hanrahan, Mark (18 May 2012). "Antilla: Inside Mukesh Ambani's 27-Story Mumbai Residence, The World's First $1 Billion Home (PHOTOS)". Retrieved 9 January 2018 – via Huff Post.
  10. ^ "Oh brother, spare me the time – World". smh.com.au. 2 August 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  11. ^ "Personal Green Skyscrapers – The 60 Story Antilla House (GALLERY)". Trendhunter.com. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  12. ^ Kwek, Glenda (15 October 2010). "India's richest man builds first $1-billion home, Antilla, Ambani". Melbourne: Theage.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Ro, Lauren (8 March 2017). "Arizona's 'Falcon's nest,' designed by Sukumar Pal, asks $1.5M". Curbed. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Legality of orphanage property sold to Mukesh Ambani's Antilla in question". India Today. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  15. ^ https://www.makedigitalindian.com/business-magnate-mukesh-ambani-biography/Template:Date=December 2018
  16. ^ "Mukesh Ambani's new house – Antilla". aavaas.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Mukesh Ambani built Antilla on orphanage land illegally sold in 2005: Maharashtra State Board of Wakfs". New Indian Express. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  18. ^ "Mukesh Ambani's 'Antilla' allegedly built on land reserved for orphans". Mumbai Live. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  19. ^ "Mukesh Ambani Built Antilla on Orphanage Land Illegally Sold in 2005: Maharashtra State Board of Wakfs". Caravan. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Sale Of Land For Mukesh Ambani's House 'Antilla' Illegal, Against Provisions Of Wakf Act: Maharashtra State Board Of Wakfs [Read Affidavit]". www.livelaw.in. Live law. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
  21. ^ "Allah's Left The Building". Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  22. ^ "State may refer Ambani's Wakf land deal to CBI". The Indian Express. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  23. ^ Madhurima Nandy (5 August 2008). "Altamount Road in Mumbai is world's 10th dearest address". Livemint. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  24. ^ "Lodha secures Mumbai land for Rs 4,053 cr". Business Standard. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  25. ^ "SC rejects plea to stop work on Mukesh mansion". Business Standard. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  26. ^ "Mukesh Ambani pays 16 lakh to Wakf board, gets NOC". Ibnlive.in.com. 9 July 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  27. ^ "Ambani dream house stands on shaky ground". Yahoo India Finance. 2 August 2011.
  28. ^ Makarand Gadgil (1 August 2011). "Maharashtra govt to review Ambani home land deal". Livemint. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  29. ^ "News # 020613-145152]". Newkerala.com. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  30. ^ "Centre wants CBI to probe Mukesh Ambani home deal". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  31. ^ "No private helipads: Jairam". hindustantimes.com/. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ "Citizens say no to helipads atop private buildings". Hindustan Times. hindustantimes.com.
  33. ^ Wil Longbottom (26 October 2011). "World's most expensive house Pies abandoned". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  34. ^ Elizabeth Flock (19 October 2011). "Mukesh Ambani never moved into his $1 billion mansion Antilla". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 December. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  35. ^ "Mittal's address more expensive than Ambani's – Money – DNA". Dnaindia.com. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  36. ^ "Indian industrialist to build rs2000 "home" amidst Mumbai's multimillion slum-dwellers". Asian Tribune. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  37. ^ "Mukesh Ambani's new abode worth billion – Business News – IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  38. ^ Woolsey, Matt (30 April 2008). "Inside The World's First Billion-Dollar Home". Forbes. Forbes.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ "'Antilla', Mukesh Ambani's house, shows lack of empathy for poor: Ratan Tata". The Times of India. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  40. ^ "'Antilla', Mukesh Ambani's house, shows lack of empathy for poor: Ratan Tata". The Times of India. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  41. ^ http://www.firstpost.com/business/ratan-tata-on-mukesh-lifestyl-13535.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links