The flat owners of the US open Mulund Project were deprived of their joy this Diwali too as they did not get possession of their flat again.
Miffed owners expressed their anger on Twitter today. The Shapoorji Pallonji group's subsidiary Ricardo Constructions Pvt ltd. is responsible for the project. 400 flat owners are said to have been left hanging as they did not get possession again this year. The project was launched in June 2010 by Nirmal Lifestyle.
Why are the US Open Mulund flat owners upset?
The project was floated out in 2010 by Nirmal Lifestyle in association with the United States Tennis Association. The flat owners were promised 'US Open' branded luxury residences, clubs and training academies. Nirmal had promised possession in 2015 but the construction of two towers with 43 floors each did not move ahead of 19 floors. This was because of a lack of further approvals and financial constraints.
In 2019 the project was transferred to Ricardo Constructions Pvt ltd a subsidiary of Shapoorji Pallonji group under the provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest (SARFAESI) Act. In September 2019, the new promoters and the home buyers signed a letter of understanding that the possession will be given in September 2021.
But in January 2020, 201 members formed the Association of Allottees (AoA) to register a complaint to MahaRERA, while 9 house owners complained individually. In September that year MahaRERA asked Ricardo Constructions to hold monthly meetings with the AoA to give out details of the progress of the project and initiate the formation of society within 30 days.
There haven't been many changes in this regard up until October 2022 and flat owners claim they are yet to receive possession of their houses.
Meanwhile, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate's spokesperson issued a clarification saying it has not made any collections from existing flat purchasers nor has it undertaken any sale of units.
Read the full statement of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate below:
"Nirmal Lifestyle was the erstwhile developer of the US Open project, since 2010, and the current customers of US Open had purchased units from Nirmal Lifestyle.
The stressed project was acquired by Ricardo Constructions along with existing flat purchasers in 2019, pursuant lender enforcement action taken against Nirmal Lifestyle.
The project suffered from lack of approvals on account of issues affecting the larger layout as well as COVID 19.
We have relentlessly worked with the relevant authorities between 2019 and 2022 to delink the project from the issues affecting the legacy larger layout including filing appeals with the Revenue Department and have obtained the necessary delinking and approvals only a few months back. Due to this regulatory issue the statutory time limit for completion of the project expired.
With the approval of majority flat purchasers (of Nirmal Lifestyle) applications have been made before the Hon’ble MahaRERA for extension of statutory timelines.
Please note that since the time of acquisition of project by us in 2019, due to the aforesaid reasons, in line with relevant regulations, we have not made any collections from existing flat purchasers nor have we undertaken any sale of units.
Ricardo as a responsible developer remains committed to the project and will take matters forward keeping in mind, the interest of all stakeholders."
