High living : Though Mangalore is known for its tiled bungalows, its citizens seem to have taken a shine to high-rises
High-rises have their advantages.
HIGH-RISE dwelling is creating a new lifestyle in Mangalore. We'll find most of these buildings have brought about self-sufficient malls, beautiful gardens and fern-decorated sidewalks around them; and this lifestyle seems to have won the hearts of residents here. The city, which has graduated into a "mini-polis" from one of old, tiled villas and bungalows, has people making this possible with meticulous planning, hard work, and investment. Builders in Mangalore have come of age. A sure sign is the pioneering builder K.C. Naik's company, Mahabaleshwara Promoters and Builders Private Limited's achievement: it is the first construction company in Dakshina Kannada to secure the ISO 9001:2000 certification for quality management.
This was a big break for Mangalore-based builders, says Vijay Kumar, well-known architect here. He points out that builders have a fine opportunity to make Mangalore a metropolis as it has more than adequate space at its core. And a sign of the metropolis could be the high-rises.
Mr. Naik's firm built the first apartment in the city, Classique Apartments, in 1992. The project set a trend not only in Mangalore, but in the whole of Dakshina Kannada district. Residents of this apartment complex even today enjoy facilities and an ambience that even the newer ones don't offer.
A chain of projects under the brand name "Classique" soon started coming up — Classique Manor at Arya Samaj Marg in 1994, Classique Paradise and Classique Arcade on K.S. Rao Road in 1996, a success in both commercial and residential segments, and in 2002-03, the Classique Villaments, with 18 economy apartments at Kankanady and Classique Legacy, with 19 premium apartments on Arya Samaj Marg.
The same year, Mr. Naik told MetroPlus, the firm thought of a new concept of housing that was affordable to the moderate middle-class. The Classique Heritage and Classique Popular, which reflected this concept, were a success. The apartments, located at Kankanady, brought in a sizeable segment of the middle class to the area, says Mr. Naik
The firm, he says, paid personal attention to these two projects keeping in mind the needs of the middle class families: LPG-reticulated system, automatic elevators, centralised cable TV, intercom and security systems — facilities offered for the first time in the city.
And thus, the boom really began. Other firms such as Dharmaraj Associates and Mathais Properties and the like started building apartment complexes in the same class as the Classique series. The market has now turned so competitive that that one can almost say that "consumer is the king" in Mangalore, at least as far as good housing goes.
