Story of first skyscraper of New Delhi

Geeta

Spare a thought if there were no high rise building in
Connaught Place area? It was exactly forty years ago that the first high rise of the capital came up in October,1970. That was the month when Himalaya house at 23, Kasturba Gandhi Marg (then Curzon Road) was
ready to be occupied. And hold your breath to know the rates in first high rise forty years ago. You would be surprised to know that there were not many takers for taking space on lease in the building even when the space was available. And if anybody wants to buy the space in order to start the office, the rates
were just Rs 67 sq. feet in the 12 storied building.
And would you like to know the present rates for both lease and buying purpose in any good building like Himalaya house in CP area? It is Rs 150 to Rs 200 per sq.feet for lease and Rs 25 thousand per sq.feet if
you want to buy the space. Naturally, the rates have gone to staggering levels since October,1970. Says Sanjay Khanna, whose grand father Kailashnath Khanna built the first high rise of the capital, “
I grew up listening to the stories related to making of Himalaya house from both my grand-father and father. It was tough call to start with for them. There were stiff resistance from some family members to built such a building as they argued that there would be no takers for that. But, my grand-father was determined to make the high rise. He knew that time has come for vertical growth and finally his will prevailed,” says Sanjay Khanna,director of Kailashnath projects Pvt Ltd.

Dr.Devinder Gupta,head of Century 21 India says tall buildings of Connaught Place area were built on the ruins of old style colonial bungalows. There were huge mansions. There are still some such mansions are left in Kasturba Gandhi Marg,Vakil Lane and Tolstoy Marg.
The process which was started with Himalaya house lasted till when two huge bungalows gave way to Antriksh Bhawan and Ambadeep Building on
Kasturba Gandhi Marg in early 90s. There are still one bungalow in shambles on Barakhamaba Road that is waiting for the day when high-rise would replace it. And on the corner of this very busy road if you move to Bengali Market side, there is a building which perhaps
would not never be completed. It looks that after little construction work, the construction work stopped due to some dispute. In a way,the fate of the building was sealed for ever. Mr.Lalit, who was closely working with legendary Mr. Kailashnath Khanna when work was on for constructing the first high-rise in capital, recalls that when it was fully ready people used to visit there in order to see the then tallest building. After much efforts,
various companies of DCM group, Indian Explosives Ltd(IEL) and Air India took space on lease at the rate of Rs 2 per sq. feet. Both Air India and Indian Explosives Limited took huge 15000 sq.feet space.
Later,there were several law firms also took space on lease basis.Surprisingly enough, the reserved car parking rates was Rs 150 per month for single car in 1970. That seems to be on the higher side considering the fact during those days India did not see auto revolution. Even Sanjay Khanna also admits that car parking rates was very high. Anyway, the current rates for dedicated car parking in CP area is around Rs five thousand. It is said for Kailashnath Khanna that he was the man who had started the business of red developing
properties in joint venture with land owners in capital. According to Sanjay Khanna after he (Kailashnath Khanna) tasted blood with Himalaya
house, he built Kanchenjunga building in Barakhamba Road and many
prestigious residential buildings on Firozshah Road. And after Himalaya house, Akashdeep building came up built by Ansal group. And then it was beginning of the new order in Connaught Place. And after couple of years, capital witnessed large number of tall buildings.

Added By : OR