Rs 450 crore heritage mansion up for redevelopment

The Watsonrsquos Hotel of yore now known as Esplanade Mansion has seen two centuries turn and take their toll on its strength From a hotel that characterized European chic in its heyday it has fallen into the ruinous folds of nostalgia greeting visitors with a BMC notice declaring it dangerous for habitation Heritage structure Esplanade Mansion is Indiarsquos oldest surviving cast iron building Named after its founder John Watson the building was planned in England and constructed on site between 1860 and 1863 PicBipin Kokate But now this heritage structure in the heart of south Mumbai which is Indiarsquos only surviving cast iron building has been marked for resuscitation PicBipin Kokate With the building which came up between 186063 consistently claiming a spot on the list of the most perilous building in the city in recent years its tenants and owner have decided to jointly redevelop it But they want to retain its cast iron frame considering that itrsquos the countryrsquos only surviving castiron structure For the makeover the occupants of the fivestorey building will require a noobjection certificate from MHADA and the owner says they have already applied for it Flashback The fivestorey hotel had 130 rooms which were eventually compartmentalised and rented out Sadik Ali owner of Esplanade Mansion said ldquoAs soon as we get the NOC from MHADA the work on the building will start We want to redevelop it jointly with the tenantsrdquo Ali came to be the proprietor in early 80s after the buildingrsquos erstwhile owners the Tatas sold it to him The buildingrsquos cast iron frame was imported specially from England The buildingrsquos builtup area is 83000 sq ft and it will get no FSI so even after redevelopment the area will remain the same The estimated worth of the property is approximately Rs 450 crore lsquoSound and strongrsquo Curiously even with civic authorities conservation architects and historians ruing the Mansionrsquos disrepair inhabitants think the edifice is just fine and will continue to gaze over Kalaghoda for the decades to follow Mahmood Hussain a tenant of Army Restaurant which has been in the building since 1932 claims all occupants believe the Mansion is not decrepit ldquobut if the redevelopment is being done we all are with the landlordrdquo He said ldquoNothing will happen to the building for the next 150 years but yes we along with the landlord are going for redevelopmentrdquo Owner Ali said ldquoThe building is not dilapidated We have got letters from several engineers to prove this The engineers had conducted a structural audit and stated that the building can stand for more than 50 yearsrdquo A tenant who didnrsquot wished to be named said ldquoThe landlord has been trying to redevelop the building for a long time If itrsquos finally happening everyone is better off but we hope that our interests are taken care ofrdquo The landlord said hersquod be giving the tenants the space they currently occupy Importantly he said the building would be done up in a way that its heritage tag isnrsquot affected Legacy worth saving Historian Deepak Rao said ldquoI have seen the building when it was in good shape but now itrsquos falling apart Itrsquos better to restore it rather than having it come crashing down one day If redeveloped while following all heritagerelated rules it would stand tall at the same place and remain with usrdquo Dwelling on its history a bit Rao said ldquoThe hotel occupied one of the loveliest places in the city The first movie was screened hererdquo He was referring to the debut of motion pictures in India on July 7 1896 which Europeans paid a rupee each to watch at Watsonrsquos Rao added ldquoItrsquos the only cast iron building left in the city The hotelrsquos annex building on Apollo Bunder is now referred to as Dhanraj Mahalrdquo Senior lawyer Majid Memon who formerly had his office in the building said ldquoThe redevelopment of Esplanade Mansion is good news The building has great heritage value but has been in a bad state for a very long time It should be redeveloped Only then will it be habitablerdquo Memon shifted to Surya Mahal in April this year 83000 Area of Esplanade Mansion in sq ft Rs 450 cr The estimated worth of the property Historically speaking gtgt Esplanade Mansion earlier known as Watson39s Hotel is Indiarsquos oldest surviving cast iron building Named after its founder John H Watson the building was planned in England and constructed on site between 1860 and 1863 gtgt It was a whitesonly hotel and the apartheid did not come in the way of its becoming the cityrsquos swankiest hotel a fivestar in an era when fivestars were still a thing in the future One of the hotelrsquos most notable guests was Mark Twain who later wrote about the crows he saw outside his balcony in lsquoFollowing the Equatorrsquo gtgt It hosted the first silent motion picture screening in India presented by the Lumiere Brothersrsquo Cinematographe on July 7 1896 gtgt A popular myth says the staff at Watsonrsquos denied Jamsetji Tata access to the hotel In retaliation Tata opened the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel near the Gateway of India in 1903 gtgt After Watsonrsquos death the hotel lost its popularity to the formidable Taj In the 1960s Watsonrsquos was closed down and eventually partitioned into small cubicles which were rented outu00a0