Business Standard, page 6 - November, 2005

Pune is all set to witness a boom in the high-value residential segment in the next couple of years, as celebrities, socialites and information technology (IT)/ business process outsourcing (BPO) biggies flock to the city in search of a haven.

The city has already seen over 200 high-value apartments, priced around Rs 1-2.5 crore, come up. An equal number of such apartments is expected to come up by 2007. These apartments, some of which have already been occupied or sold, are located around the Boat Club Road, Koregaon Park, Kalayani Nagar, Manjri and Baner areas of the city.

These apartments come fitted with the latest in futuristic gadgetry — from state-of-the-art alarms and CCTVs (closed circuit televisions) to rainshowers and wave pools.

For example, Gera Developers’ GreensVille near Kharadi advertises advanced surveillance equipment as one of its unique selling points. Fitted with CCTVs, the villa has some of the most expensive burglar alarms, while its main gate and garage doors can be opened or closed with remote controls. Certain villas of Gera Developers come with rainshowers, an exclusive feature available only at fancy five-star hotels in Goa.

These bathrooms do not have roofs, enabling the user to take a sunbath or a rainshower, depending on the climate. “These features have been installed not only for the novelty value, but also for their usability,” said Rohit Gera, director (operations), Gera Developers.

Celebrities and popular personalities like author Shobha De, fashion designer Hemant Trivedi, Yana Gupta and her sculptor husband Satyakam Gupta, former Union law minister Ram Jethmalani and cricketer Abhijeet Kale are among the people who have bought some of these high-end flats.