NRI buy Chandigarh penthouses, that meet international standards

City’s latest fetish: A house on the roof

Chandigarh, May 28, 2006
MUNIESWHER A. SAGAR
Express India

There are 16 duplex penthouses in Zirakpur’s Silver City Greens, Regalia Towers has 28

:A SWIMMING pool on the terrace, a personal gym, designer kitchen, remote-controlled electrical appliances, privacy plus lots of open space: all this on the seventh floor of a multi-storied apartment. A growing obsession in Delhi and Mumbai, the city beautiful is now having its first brush with a penthouse.

“A penthouse lets you enjoy the benefits of a bungalow without the hassles. There is cleaner air, sunlight, less dust and mosquitoes, better view, no noise. And privacy is guaranteed,” says Jaswinder Singh, an NRI, who recently bought a penthouse near the city.

Increasingly, developers are incorporating penthouses in their building plans. There are 16 duplex penthouses in Zirakpur’s Silver City Greens, occupying a sprawling 3,320 sq ft area. Regalia Towers has 28 penthouses on the fifth and sixth floors, each 2,870 sq ft by 3,100 sq ft. And why not? “Non-Resident Indians and senior executives form a majority of our clientele,” says Silver City General Manager Sunil Bhanda.

According to Amitabh Bhattacharya, vice-president of Corporate Communications, “as the number of nuclear families and their purchasing power is rising, people are investing in cosmopolitan and international comfort living. A penthouse provides all this”.

Not all, however, agree that penthouses in Chandigarh meet international standards. In Mumbai and Delhi, for instance, floor space of a penthouse varies from 21,000 sq ft to 40,000 sq ft. “By these standards, the city’s penthouses are not more than super luxury apartments,’’ says Amitabh.