Homes, Homes and Yet More Homes

Shakespeare has said that a man becomes a real man only after his father dies. In the same vein, our forefathers were of the opinion that a man becomes one only after he has built an abode for himself. How far Shakespeare’s statement holds true is for the more enlightened to discuss and debate but there can be no doubt that our forefathers’ oft-repeated adage has to be taken with a pinch of salt nowadays. Without question, the building of a home is a most tedious affair, and certainly was more so in the days gone by. And so, fittingly, our forefathers were right, for the process does test the strongest of men. However, in today’s world, the test is not about building houses, but rather, about the purchasing of the same. And in the present times, with the plethora of housing companies embroiled in an all out contest to build larger and better housing projects, the times have indeed become quite testing for prospective home owners. It is not easy to choose and pick among so many when making what will be, in most cases, the largest investment of one’s life.

At the same time, one can rest assured that choices have never been wider, and housing projects, more attractive. Therefore, one must give appreciation where it is due, that is, to the brave and visionary housing developers who, in spite of trying times, are gamely (and optimistically) forging ahead with bigger and grander ventures. Some of these brave souls have been impressively successful in their efforts and, especially in the capital, the results of their visionary labor are conspicuously on view throughout the valley. One such organization is The Comfort Housing Pvt. Ltd. (TCH) whose completed projects include 76 stand-alone houses in Sitapaila, 42 of the same in Budhanilkantha, 76 more in Ichhangu and the more recently completed 44-unit TCH Tower II in Lazimpat. (prices from Rs. 49 to Rs. 75 lakhs per unit). Other projects include a 54-unit project in Thaiba (Rs. 46 lakhs to Rs. 62 lakhs per house) as well as the 51-unit TCH Tower III in Panipokahari (Rs. 59 to Rs.93 lakhs) and the TCH Tower IV in Sitapaila (67 units: Rs. 48 to Rs. 80 lakhs each).

TCH CEO Om Rajbhandary, is probably still basking in the afterglow after recently being  awarded the International Quality Summit Award, 2008, by Business Initiative Direction (BID) at the Quality Summit in New York for excelling in most criteria required, as defined by BID, towards the making of a ‘most excellent business’ organization.. TCH’s success in a short period of time (it was established in 2001) owes much to its CEO’s drive and marketing acumen shored up by projects that have been able to deliver as promised. Rajbhandary, a firm propagator of the benefits of community living is, however, not happy about the progress of the latter. He has been quoted as saying, “I would estimate that only 30% of the homes developers are selling are being bought to be lived in.” Such a tendency, that of buying houses as a means of investment only, does not help towards the making of a community, and in fact, dilutes greatly the whole concept of ‘community living’. This is one troubling aspect that could hinder the making of new and vibrant townships. Additionally, because the houses bought as investment are naturally priced much higher for re-sale, it is likely that they will be out of reach for many new buyers, thus leaving unoccupied houses, vacant for a long time.

It would be logical to think that apartments would fare much better in this regard as they would be less expensive and attract buyers who are really in need of an address. However, going by quoted prices for many new projects, it does seem possible that a similar situation can arise since the prices are still quite high. Nevertheless, high prices notwithstanding, there is a lot of attraction in buying readymade homes, be they houses or apartments. For one, security, one of the main concerns today, is an important provision that comes with living in such places. Secondly, and as importantly, basic necessities like water and electricity are, one could say, almost guaranteed by the promoters. Moreover, factors like a landscaped environment and various other facilities that make living easier, and healthier, are also built into the system. No wonder there are so many prospective homeowners with the fervent desire to be a part of it. It is thus natural to expect a booming market in housing development. It is then, no wonder, to see the number of developers and projects growing in leaps and bounds and the field has become too crowded now to be able to enumerate each and every developer and his project. Nevertheless, a few examples should suffice to get a general idea about the whole scenario as it stands today. 

Developers have left no stones unturned to come up with newer and more modern designs as far as future projects are concerned. Although, according to K.C.Parikh of Ambe Housing and Developers Pvt. Ltd., many of the offers on hand appear to be limited to paper at the moment. Additionally, most of the glossy brochures have a small clause that states, more or less, ‘All designs and specifications are subject to change as decided by the architects or by the builder’. Perhaps that is why he and the company’s marketing executive, Ritika Silwal, make it a point to inform that five floors of their eight-floor project, Metro Apartments (58 units: Rs.60 lakhs and above) near Kuleshwor, have been completed.  Likewise, its other venture, the 72 units, eight-storied Ambe Residency at Chabhil (Rs.55 to Rs. 59 lakhs), is also supposedly half complete. At the recent Real Estate Expo in Kathmandu, one could discern special efforts to score a point by those with finished or about to be finished projects through photographs of ongoing construction and half finished buildings.

Along the same lines, Laxmi Khadka of Seng Yoan Housing emphasizes that her company’s 30 row houses (Rs. 1 crore and above) at Naya Bazar, is 50% complete. Similarly, Prestige Apartments at Chandole (Rs. 88 lakhs to Rs. 2. 6 crores) also claims to have completed half of its civil works. One of the bigger developers, Guna Group, will be handing over the 160 unit Stupa Apartments in Sinamangal to owners this September, sold at prices ranging from Rs. 40 to Rs. 49 lakhs each. The company has as its ongoing projects, the 48 flats LLP Apartment and the 50 flats LP Apartment, both in Lazimpat; as well as Reliable Colony in Bhainsepati (110 bungalows). Likewise, Roadshow Real Estate, having already completed four projects (Budhanilkantha Phase I, Narayan Bhawan, Lalitpur, Phase III and Maharajgunj Phase I and II) is now offering Naya Bazar, Bhatbhateni and Chetrapati Apartments in the near future.

Leaving aside some, most developers’ projects appear to be ventures that will only be completed two or three years down the line. And, one would think, this should be a matter of some concern to potential buyers. Buyers are required to pay from 10 to 15% at the time of booking, and to pay an additional 10 to 15% within 30 to 45 days. Keeping in mind that the number of builders has grown substantially, with even foreign investment involved (Chinese, Korean and Indian), it can be presupposed that buyers will be a bit wary of coughing up significant amounts of cash to ensure a home or an apartment in projects that will be completed a few years later. Actually, this was a sore marketing point when TCH started its venture in 2001 and its market savvy CEO decided that all future projects should first have model houses built before going to the market. “Seeing is believing,” was his opinion.

Many companies also have another disclaimer on their brochures stating that the cost of the units are based on current market value and so are subject to change. One can only guess where land values will go in a few years time and how the inflationary graph will progress, so it does become a bit of a gamble for buyers. And going by what the developers say about there being only a 10 to 15% margin in their projects, it looks like it’s a bigger gamble for them, especially with the entrant of many new members in the field driving up competition to attract what one can only assume, a limited client base. Limited, because, in an economy in shambles, it is hard to see how the client base will increase in proportion to the growth in housing projects.  Although, strangely enough, some housing projects seem to sell even as the ink on the announcements have not dried. For example, in Sitapaila (a hot spot of housing development) Prem Gurung’s Sita Homes, a project of about 100 stand-alone units on around thirty ropanis of land, are apparently all sold out even though only around eight houses have been presently constructed. The price? Rs. 1 crore and above. The success of Comfort Housing has also been much talked about, and there have been tales of people queuing up from early morning with requisite advances in hand, to book their choice in just announced projects. Such success stories must surely have encouraged growth of numerous new developers.

Quite a few architectural and engineering firms are integral parts of some promoters’ boards. Civil Homes, another success story, has the byline, ‘promoted by bankers and engineers’ as its USP. Top honcho Engineer Ichha Man Tamang states with justifiable pride, “Others build large numbers of apartments, we build a greater number of stand alone homes.” Doubtless, Civil Homes is the biggest as far as units built is concerned, with the numbers reaching almost a thousand. . Their Civil Homes Phase III in Sunakothi is about 200 units strong and is said to be one of the largest housing undertakings in the country. Now, according to Tamang, a bigger one is on the anvil, this time in Khumaltar. Built on land area varying from 5 annas to a ropani, the Phase III undertaking has six types of houses ranging from 1175.82 sq. ft. built up area to 2540 sq. ft. with additional areas for car porch.

Architectural Consultants Astra Development Network are involved in quite a few projects according to its Chief Architect, Bipin Chitrakar. These include the already concluded Signature Apartments in Teku, Lifestyle Housing in Tahachal (under construction) and another planned up-scale project in Dhapasi. However, as far as professional groups are concerned, Engineer Bijay Rajbhanday’s CE Construction Pvt. Ltd. is amongst the front-runners in the business in many ways. Having parented Comfort Housing since its establishment, it has recently separated from promotional involvement with the same and has itself become an unit of the CE Group which, besides CE Construction, also has CE Developers and CD Developers in its fold as well as several other entities including CE Services. The different entities are at the moment busy with some important ongoing projects such as Dhapasi Cluster II (6 residential buildings as an extension of its Cluster I), Veena’s Residency (60 houses on 35 ropanis of land), the 11 storied, 29 units Retreat Apartments at Bijeshwori (around 1000 sq. ft. per unit), Rio Apartments, and the grandest of all, Grande Towers in Dhapasi. The Grande Towers is certainly a creative project going by the conceptualized pictures in the brochures. Planned to be constructed on 54 ropanis, with eleven towers holding 42 to 62 apartments each (a grand total of 500 apartments), the central one will be called the Sun Tower and those surrounding will be also named after different planets. It’s a grand visionary project; there is no doubt about that.

No less grandiose are proposed projects of other developers, such as the Silver City Apartments in Kalikasthan (a venture of Dipak Malhotra’s Silver Valley Developers) that visualizes a truly modern design; Sun City in Gothatar, promoted by Prakash Bajracharya’s Shangrila Housing; Clean Energy Development Bank’s Central Park in Bishalnagar.and Choudhary Group’s Cityscape Apartment Homes in Hattiban. Silver City Apartment prices range from about Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2.4 crores for units that vary from 3 bed-roomed 1855 sq. ft. apartments to 4 bed-roomed duplex ones of 2810 sq. ft.  Sun City is publicized as the country’s first Global Township and envisages ten towers with around one thousand apartments in total. Prices range from approximately Rs. 32 lakhs to Rs. 52 lakhs for each apartment. The Central Park project is promoted as ‘a professional, international team on its way to creating an energy efficient residential development of green buildings.’ The fact that renowned landscapist M. Paul Friedberg as well as ARCOP Associates, New Delhi, will be bringing the project to life, could well be validation of the claim. Clean Park apartments will cost from about Rs. 79 lakhs to Rs.1.4 crores each.

Cityscape assures amenities like twenty-four hours security, separate swimming pools for seniors and toddlers and a jogging track, features that are actually now a given standard in most housing schemes (in addition to the usual shopping outlet and a 30:70 ratio in living and open spaces). But, in addition, Cityscape also promises a pergola over the driveway and water features besides things like a reflexology path, a meditation court, a sculpture court, play pens, etc… It goes without saying that almost all developers guarantee power back up and regular treated water supply in their projects. While on this subject, it must also be mentioned that as far as interiors are concerned, most of the developers appear to take care that high standard fittings and furnishing are used because they know that interiors matter as much as exteriors do, if not more so. And some go to great lengths to ensure that the interiors do not disappoint. For example, according to Sanjib Parajuli of Kitchen Concepts, all 52 houses of Sitapaila Housing have branded modular kitchens fitted by his firm.  Most definitely, excellent interiors are something one can expect to get when purchasing one of the units of housing companies, be it an apartment, a row house or a stand-alone house. This certainly is not a worry.

More worrisome is that, although, as stated by Ms. Prarthna Baidya (B.Arch) of TCH, there are probably only around 35 registered housing developers, according to Civil Homes’ Ichha Man Tamang, also chairman of Nepal Land and Housing Developers’ Association, 125 housing and real estate developers are registered with the association. Taking into account those unregistered, he believes there to be some 200 firms involved in this business. Certainly a high number, and one that could prove to be the undoing of this sector. As they say, ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’. And, while developers would certainly like to be optimistic, there are some who are signaling caution as is evident from varying statements made in a leading daily recently. While there are those like Min Man Shrestha of Downtown Housing who claim with certainty that only 10% of the business’s potential has been tapped, there are others like pioneer Sumit Kumar Agrawal of Sunrise Apartments who think that due to a bad economy and global recession, the future doesn’t look good for residential units He wants to now focus on business complexes and has two projects, Sunrise Biz Park and Sunrise Complex, on the horizon. Downtown Housing, meanwhile, is going full steam ahead with its Downtown Apartments (200 plus units) in Khumaltar with the attractive proposal of prices starting from only about Rs. 25 lakhs for its studio/2/3 bedroom apartments.

Sunrise, of course, has been in the business longer, having built Sunrise Homes in Balkumari a long time ago, later projects being the 13 storied Sunrise Towers in Dhobhighat (priced in the Rs. 50 lakhs range) and the 17 storied Sunrise Apartments in Nakkhu (from about Rs. 40 to Rs.73 lakhs), besides Sunrise Cityhomes in the Banehwor area that pledges boutique apartments and designer penthouses starting at around Rs. 92 lakhs and going up to Rs. 1.74 crores for an apartment. Now, he says he is planning a 25-storied building. Here, perhaps there could be some debate on the wisdom of having too high buildings in a city like Kathmandu, which, according to experts, is in an earthquake prone zone. Especially since most envisaged apartments by developers are all tall affairs. 

However, leaving this to the experts, and in spite of everything: the weak economic scenario, the escalating prices and the unpredictable political situation, it is still a boom time for builders because of various factors, not least being the rapid population growth in the capital, brought about by uncertainty and chaos in other parts of the country. There are many, for whom, the first priority is to own a dwelling in the capital. And, so, in tune with the times, there are many builders in the fray. Doubtless, developers have been a boon for the city and have contributed substantially to the nation’s economic health besides significantly improving the urban landscape. In conclusion, for those who can afford them, beautiful houses and apartments are now on offer when and where one wants and with the assurance of many amenities that make living a more pleasurable experience. It is indeed something to be thankful for.