Mysore, a royal city known for its palaces, parks, heritage buildings, handicrafts and its famous Mysore ‘Maillige’ and Mysore ‘Pak’, also once came alive with a particular beat. That was the ‘dub dub’ beat going by the name of Jawa motorcycles. There was a time when it was as proud to own a Jawa mobike as it was to work in the factory there. The sound of the beat resonated throughout the country — but now the beat is missing. Still, the heritage City of Mysore is metamorphosing and the Jawa (later Yezdi) factory which stood on 28 acres, is acquiring a different hue.

    International living is coming to Mysore and guess what else is happening? Two Asian giants —  India and China — are in the news competing for world attention. But what we will be seeing here is the ingenuity of the Chinese and the mastermind of the Indians. The person responsible is a shy Bangalorean, who has now made Mysore his own pride of place. He is Jagadish Babu, and the project we are talking about is Sankalp Central Park. A residential condominium proposed at Yadavagiri in Mysore on the existing old Jawa factory, this development consists of 912 residential units and a clubhouse with a total built-up area of 14.42 lakh square feet.

Mammoth task
How did Babu take up the challenge of building such a vast residential complex in a sleepy, laid-back, pensioner’ paradise like Mysore? The answer, “Mysore is one of the favoured investment destinations in India, growing as an alternative hub to Bangalore with international focus shifted to this heritage city. The demand for housing in Mysore in view of the city’s anticipated growth, has brought in builders from Bangalore and other parts of the country,” said Babu.

Private builders have embarked upon over 100 apartment projects across the city with each project creating approximately over 50,000 square feet of housing as per Builders Association of India estimates. Thus, nearly Rs 600 crores are being pumped into the private housing projects in Mysore by the property developers.

After having searched for proper architects in Bangalore and other places, Babu zeroed in finally on Singapore for his vision of the future to be realised. The Singapore based CPG group was so impressed with the quality and dedication of Babu and his team that they decided to offer their architectural services for a truly international standard of living.

The planning approach has taken into consideration various criteria with futuristic vision and dynamism of urban growth. The CPG group, which was also involved in the Singapore airport project, has stressed on design to achieve healthy and enjoyable living conditions for the residents. Jawa factory had employed nearly 3,000 people during its heyday. The Sankalp Central Park is also now giving direct employment to nearly 1,000 people which will go up by another 500 in the second phase of the project. Besides, once the 6 lakh-square foot mall comes up on 9 acres adjoining the apartment, it will once again be instrumental in creating employment opportunities for another 500.

The design of the clubhouse that is coming up in the shape of a butterfly, truly reflects the metamorphoses happening in Mysore. “If only we had more floor space to go higher, we could have saved a lot more space for parking facilities,” rues Babu and adds, “There is no alternative to Bangalore other than Mysore. If Bangalore has to be decongested, then industries, specially knowledge industries, software and tourism, have to move to Mysore.” This is where an emerging IT city with lots of investment from private and public sectors, demands a lot of quality housing. The urban population of Mysore which no longer can afford independent houses due to high land value, demands quality housing with modern lifestyle.

Is it not true that most of his buyers are from outside Mysore? No, says Babu. “In fact, in the first phase of the Sankalp Central Park where the prices range from Rs 35 lakh to Rs 51 lakh basic, for 12.5 squares to 18 squares; of the 220 flats sold out of 288, 70 per cent are Mysoreans,” said Babu. Hence the slogan, “Goodbye Bangalore, Hello Mysore.” It is possible with proper planning  to make Mysore another Singapore. “In all our meetings at BAI, Mysore and CREDAI , we are all concerned about how to approach the government to see that Mysore does not go the Bangalore way,” he said.

With factors like rainwater harvesting and sewage treatment plant — the conservation of water — one of the main concerns of any growing city, is taken care of. Thus the ‘dub dub’ beat is making way for a greener, cleaner, healthier life which as Mysoreans, we all need to feel proud of.