In a move that could add 5m sq ft to Mumbai’s high-end residential market, the country’s largest developer, DLF, has decided to change the end use of its Lower Parel property.

DLF had acquired the defunct mill land in Lower Parel in an auction conducted by state-owned National Textile Corporation in 2005. It had bid Rs 702 crore for a 17.5 acre plot - a record price at that point - while stepping into the Mumbai market. But while buyers of some of the other plots in the auction have already completed their construction, DLF has chosen to wait and watch.

Industry officials feel that switching the project from a commercial complex to residential makes sense, given the oversupply in office space. While residential rates have firmed up in the city, lease rentals as well as prices are still way below the peak levels.

The Economic Times