On October 26, 2025, following the SGM held to appoint a new lawyer, our PMC Mr. Dhargalkar, along with his architect Aditya, had an insightful open discussion with members. The focus was on what we should consider while selecting a developer and the procedure to be followed in the coming stages.

There were several eye-opening takeaways from this interaction. One particularly important point was about the design plans submitted by our two shortlisted developers.

Dhargalkar emphasized that these design plans are very preliminary and can undergo a complete transformation later. They are meant only to convey the developer’s vision, their approach to open spaces, and the effort and seriousness they bring to the project. He pointed out that one of the developers had not put in the effort to prepare a plan—showing his  lack of keenness to take on the project.

These initial designs, he explained, are typically prepared by in-house architects within 2–3 weeks. Once a developer is selected, they may engage renowned external architects—sometimes even a panel of experts—to design the final, detailed plans.

Hence, Dhargalkar said that we should not assign any importance, including any importance in our voting decisions, to the current plans.

He emphasised on the discussions we had during the negotiation stage, where developers talked of  building premium and super-premium homes. He has asked them to clearly define these terms—by listing out the amenities, specifications, fittings, and materials they propose to use. He also asked them to  explain why they say their construction cost is as high as Rs 15,000 or so per sq ft. These will be great indicators of the kind of quality they are promising us at this stage.

Once a developer is selected, he said, we will sit down for detailed negotiations—reviewing the amenities, specifications, and final design plans—before signing the Development Agreement.

Addressing a common concern about rehab flats being on lower floors and sale flats on higher floors, Dhargalkar shared his experiences. He said that on higher floors above you cannot even see a tree! He said strong winds is another aspect to consider at higher floors. Besides, the fact that  the lower flats will be built first, we could benefit from that in terms of being assured that our flats are constructed.

But wanting a lower or higher flat is each member’s preference. He said we must discuss this one point with developers early on if we wish to do so. Otherwise, developers may later claim that the initial plans had already shown rehab units on lower levels and sale units above.

In the following issues of VOX, we will bring you Dhargalkar’s views on which DCPR scheme our society should opt for and what is the procedure to be followed in selecting the final developer.