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Antilia (building)

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Antilia
Antilia as seen from Balughat Road
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
TypePrivate Residence
LocationAltamount Road, off Pedder Road, South Mumbai
Completed2010
Opening5 February
CostOfficially $2 billion[2]
OwnerMukesh Ambani
Height170 metres (560 ft)*[1]
Technical details
Floor count27
Floor area4,500 m2 (48,000 sq ft)
of living space
Lifts/elevators10
Design and construction
Architect(s)Perkins + Will
Structural engineerSterling Engineering Consultancy Services (Mumbai)
Main contractorLeighton Holdings

Antilia is a private home in South Mumbai. It is owned by Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries and includes a staff of 600 to maintain the residence 24X7.[3][4][5][6] As of November 2014, it is deemed to be the world's second most expensive residential property, after Buckingham Palace, which is designated as a governmental property. It is thus the world's most expensive private residential property,[7] valued at $689 million.

Etymology

Antilia is named after a mythical island of the same name in the Atlantic Ocean.

Construction

Antilia as seen from Altamount Road

Antilia was designed by Chicago-based architects Perkins and Will, with the Australian-based construction company Leighton Holdings taking charge of its construction.[8] The home has 27 floors with extra-high ceilings. (Other buildings of equivalent height may have as many as 60 floors.)[9] The home was also designed to survive an 8-Richter scale earthquake.[10]

Controversies

In 2005, this property was purchased by a Mukesh Ambani-controlled entity, Muffin-Antilia Commercial Private Limited from the Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja Trust, in direct contravention[11] of § 51 of the Wakf Act.[12]

The 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 Antilia Commercial Private Limited in July 2002 for ₹210.5 million (US$2.5 million).[13] The prevailing market value of the land at the time was at least ₹1.5 billion (US$18 million).[14][15][16][17]

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 Antilia Commercial Pvt Ltd, and it issued a No Objection Certificate.[18]

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.[19][20][21][22]

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,[23] said the helipads violate local noise laws.[6][24] Issues have also been raised with regards to the construction of an illegal car park.[25]

In 2011 it was reported that Ambani had yet to move in to the home, despite its completion, for fear of "bad luck".[26] According to Basannt R. Rasiwasia, an expert in Vastu shastra, claims the home does not conform to Vastu requirements.[27] However, Ambani later confirmed that his family had been living there since about September 2011.[28]

Cost and valuation

The Indian media have frequently reported that Antilia is the world's most expensive home, costing between US$1 and 3 billion.[29][30][31] 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.[32]

In June 2008, the The New York Times printed that it would cost $50–$70 million to build. But it cost nearly $1billion with combined rates of land it was built on.[33]

Public reception

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]

Some Indians are proud of the "ostentatious house", while 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 the 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 Antilia is an example of rich Indians' lack of empathy for the poor.[34] Tata also 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."[35]

Author activist and trained architect[36] Arundhati Roy wondered if by calling their tower Antilia, the "Ambanis hope to sever their links to the poverty and squalor of their homeland and raise a new civilisation?"[37]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bhadana give first view inside 'world's priciest house' in Mumbai". BBC. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  2. ^ "World's most expensive house lies abandoned, because billionaire owners believe it would be bad luck to move". Daily Mail. 26 October 2011.
  3. ^ "A peek into Shraddha Sharma US $3 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 Billionaire Homes, 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. ^ "Oh brother, spare me the time – World". smh.com.au. 2 August 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  9. ^ "Personal Green Skyscrapers – The 60 Story Antilia House (GALLERY)". Trendhunter.com. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  10. ^ Kwek, Glenda (15 October 2010). "India's richest man builds first $1-billion home, Antilia, 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)
  11. ^ http://www.samayindia.in/business-news/89-cbi-to-probe-mukesh-bhais-antilla[dead link]
  12. ^ "Mukesh Ambani's new house – Antilla". aavaas.com.
  13. ^ "State may refer Ambani's Wakf land deal to CBI". The Indian Express. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  14. ^ Madhurima Nandy (5 August 2008). "Altamount Road in Mumbai is world's 10th dearest address". Livemint. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  15. ^ "Residential Land in Walkeshwar Mumbai South – for sale". 99Acres.com. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  16. ^ "Lodha secures Mumbai land for Rs 4,053 cr". Business Standard. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  17. ^ "SC rejects plea to stop work on Mukesh mansion". Business Standard. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  18. ^ "Mukesh Ambani pays 16 lakh to Wakf board, gets NOC". Ibnlive.in.com. 9 July 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  19. ^ "Ambani dream house stands on shaky ground". Yahoo India Finance. 2 August 2011.
  20. ^ Makarand Gadgil (1 August 2011). "Maharashtra govt to review Ambani home land deal". Livemint. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  21. ^ "News # 020613-145152]". Newkerala.com. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  22. ^ "Centre wants CBI to probe Mukesh Ambani home deal". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  23. ^ "No private helipads: Jairam". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  24. ^ "Citizens say no to helipads atop private buildings". Hindustan Times. hindustantimes.com.
  25. ^ "Nod for Mukesh Ambani's Antilla parking lot illegal – Mumbai – DNA". Dnaindia.com. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  26. ^ Wil Longbottom (26 October 2011). "World's most expensive house Pies abandoned". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  27. ^ Elizabeth Flock (19 October 2011). "Mukesh Ambani never moved into his $2 billion mansion Antilia". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  28. ^ "Antilia is only home we have: Ambani". The Indian Express. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  29. ^ "Mittal's address more expensive than Ambani's – Money – DNA". Dnaindia.com. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  30. ^ "Indian industrialist to build rs2000 "home" amidst Mumbai's multimillion slum-dwellers". Asian Tribune. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  31. ^ "Mukesh Ambani's new abode worth billion – Business News – IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  32. ^ 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)
  33. ^ Giridharadas, Anand (15 June 2008). "Indian to the Core, and an Oligarch". The New York Times.
  34. ^ "'Antilla', Mukesh Ambani's house, shows lack of empathy for poor: Ratan Tata". The Times of India. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  35. ^ "'Antilla', Mukesh Ambani's house, shows lack of empathy for poor: Ratan Tata". The Times of India. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  36. ^ "Anniina's Arundhati Roy Page". luminarium.org.
  37. ^ "Capitalism: A Ghost Story – Arundhati Roy – Mar 26,2012". outlookindia.com.
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