In yet another big-ticket purchase in the country's real estate sector, Pune-based business tycoon Cyrus Poonawalla has bagged the iconic Lincoln House in Mumbai for a staggering price of Rs 750 crore.
The deal is said to be the biggest ever property sale in the financial hub of the country. Located in the Breach Candy area of south Mumbai, the Lincoln House was owned by the US government and had housed its consulate for decades.
The property, which was put up for sale by the US government for a massive price of Rs 850 crore in 2011, failed to find any takers until Poonawalla evinced interest in buying the sea-facing house that is built on two acres.
"No builder was interested to buy Lincoln House,'' Poonawalla told The Times of India.
"There is no development potential on the plot because of its heritage value and other restrictions. So developers backed out,'' he said.
Built by the Maharaja of Wankaner in 1938, the Lincoln House currently comes under Grade III heritage category. The property was known as Wankaner House before the US renamed it as the Lincoln House in 1957 when it took the building on lease to house its consulate.
Poonawalla said his family did not rope in any global property consultant or broker to clinch the deal.
"The negotiations were initiated by my son Adar,'' he said.
Poonwalla is the country's 11th richest person having a net worth of $6.6 billion (about Rs 43,700 crore) in 2015, according to Forbes.
He is the chairman of the Pune-based Serum Institute, the country's largest drug maker for snake bites, founded in 1966.
The Lincoln House sale comes just within a week after noted industrialist Aditya Birla bought Jatia House in the city for Rs 425 crore.
