I’m starting the house hunt series with apartments in East Bangalore, primarily around the Whitefield, Hoodi, and Old Madras area. Let’s start with Casagrand Royce, a 277-apartment spread over 6 towers coming up off Hoodi.
Name of the property: Casagrand Royce
Builder: Casagrand
Location: Off Hoodi Junction. Precisely, on Kodigehalli Main Road, KR Puram, Bangalore. Though the address comes under KR Puram, it is closer to Hoodi Junction.
Total area: 4.05 acres
Type of units: 1,2,3 and 4 BHK apartment in many variants. Each of these have an option with a private terrace.
Total number of units: 277
Status: under construction
Likely handover date: starting October 2018
Pricing (approx. all inclusive including GST + registration): You will have to inquire for the actual pricing for specific units.
No. of floors: G+4
Parking: 2 level Basement parking
Plan analysis of the model apartment:
I visited the property yesterday. I liked the layout of the 3BHK + 3 toilets model apartment. I think it is the type 18 or 19 with 3 bedrooms, 2 balconies, and 3 toilets. The tricky bit with many of the apartments these days is you get units with different layouts to suit the lay of the land, individual spatial preferences and Vaastu compliance rules. Of course, it can work to your advantage too as you can pick one which one ticks all your boxes without the need to go in for modifications.
The model apartment that I saw needed very few alterations, and should work great as is. Here are a few thoughts that crossed my mind as I toured the apartment:
- A wooden swing (oonjal) between the living and dining would serve as a nice divider, an aesthetic element and seating arrangement.
- May be do away with the wall between the kitchen and utility if you want a bigger kitchen. But, retaining the wall would be good as the kitchen is of a decent size in this unit.
- I felt the kids bedroom was relatively cramped to accommodate two beds, a study table, and free space for kids to play or entertain their friends. an ideal option here would be a bunk bed to free up the ground space.
- Good utilization of space otherwise.
Having said that, all model apartments look great because of the choice of colors, which is often white, used for furniture and furnishing. And often, there are only console tables in the foyer with table lamps, and decorative elements in bed rooms. It’s only when you start visualizing the space with your belongings that you feel how inadequate it can get. For instance, imagine the foyer with a shoe cabinet in place of the console table, or the kitchen with your appliances, refrigerator, and dishwasher.
No. of bedrooms: 3
No. of bathrooms: 3
Fittings: good quality ones ranging from Kohler for bathroom to Schneider for switches
Comments on locality, accessibility, transportation, schools, hospitals:
- Locality: this is not a developed or an upscale neighborhood by any means. Of course, things have got better over the past two years in terms of retail grocery stores and availability of vegetables, clinics, hospitals etc. There are no great restaurants nearby.
- Hospitals: there are certain good, small pediatric and dental clinics closeby. The closest hospitals would be Cloud Nine, Narayana, Manipal, RxDx, and Vydehi.
- Accessibility: If you happen to work around the ITPL area, around Brigade Metropolis or in Whitefield area, you will find the location convenient. The advantage is it is accessible from the KR puram side and Hoodi side. It is about 2.5 Kms from KR Puram market and about 1.5 Kms from Hoodi junction.
- Transportation: as of now there is no connectivity through Volvo buses. One is dependent on their own vehicles or app-based cab services which can be tricky to get during peak hours. And, the definition of peak hours keeps getting stretched. Hopefully, the ease of getting around should improve once the Metro station at Hoodi comes up.
- Schools: the commute for most international schools along Varthur Road and Marathahalli area is longer. Buses for schools in this region come as early as 6:45 a.m. Other good ones close by include Deens, PNC Cognito, Vibgyor Kadugodi, Chrysalis, Gopalan, Ryan, Vydehi, Chaitanya, and Narayana. In the neighborhood, there are many schools such as Diya Academy.
What I did not see:
The placement of the units, how close the adjacent units are, and how good the ventilation and flow of light is. Again all this will change for individual units that you choose based on the plan of your liking.
My verdict:
It’s worth taking a look if you happen to work around this region and kids go to school here.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here are personal. Use your judgement and discretion before making a decision.
Image courtesy: Casagrand
