The sprawling bungalow of Captain G R Gopinath — the man who launched the first low-budget airline in the country — on Vittal Mallya Road will be razed and multi-storey residential units are likely to replace it.

The public notice names Raj A Menda, co-owner and managing director of RMZ Corp, and Manoj A Menda, managing director, as Gopinath’s joint development partners. It states the Mendas intend to enter an agreement with Bhargavi Gopinath, wife of Capt Gopinath, residing at No. 32 Vittal Mallya Road (formerly known as Grant Road), providing for joint development of the immovable property measuring 16,191 sq ft.

The notice was put out to ensure due diligence on the property title, so that any person, bank or financial institution asserting any manner of right, title, claim, demand, tenancy, mortgage or right of whatsoever nature in respect of the scheduled property or having any objection to the above transaction can notify the same within 10 days.

This high-profile transaction assumes added significance as Gopinath’s bungalow had been lined up for auction by the State Bank of India (SBI) last month following mounting debts on Deccan Cargo and Express Logistics.

Picking up the sprawling 16,191 sq ft bungalow was one of the first few investments Gopinath made after he sold Air Deccan to business rival Vijay Mallya. It brought him to within a stone's throw from Mallya's residence. Gopinath spruced up the bungalow aesthetically — its colonial exterior a stark contrast to the new-age interior. Before moving into the bungalow, the Gopinaths lived in a flat in Rajanigandha building, Garden Apartments, on Vittal Mallya Road. Subsequently, through a gift deed, the bungalow ownership was transferred to Bhargavi.

Industry sources’ best guess is multi-storey residential units would come up at the site. “It is a little premature to talk about it,” a source well-informed about the transaction told Bangalore Mirror. “The issuing of public notice is the first step in ensuring due diligence of property title — to ascertain if there are any other claimants to the property. The share in the property and development details cannot be discussed at this point.

However, considering that the property is situated on a narrow lane off Vittal Mallya Road, the floor area ratio provided by the BBMP building bylaws will not permit an out-and-out vertical development.

Gopinath’s bungalow is worth anything upwards of Rs 30 crore. According to Zahed Mahmood of Silverline Realty, a premium realty house on MG Road, the going rate on Vittal Mallya Road is between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 per sq ft. During the 2011 property value revision exercise carried out by the state government, guidance value for Vittal Mallya Road was fixed at Rs 10,000/sq ft for mosaic/vitrified/ceramic flooring and Rs 11,000/sq ft for marble/granite flooring. But the luxury flats at UB City went for a whopping Rs 33,000/sq ft for an area upwards of 8,000 sq ft and declared Rs 19 crore and above as sale price per unit to the sub-registrar during registration.

Source: The Bangalore Mirror