Palms have been a fascination for entrepreneur and property developer Karl Irani since he was a child. "At a young age, I remember sitting on a beach, staring at a palm tree and thinking about how it would have grown from a seed that must have floated across the ocean,” he stated in an email to Parsiana on August 6, 2020. "Palms have come to symbolize something special to me....strength, flexibility, beauty.”
Irani is a co-director with architect father Navzer in Palmore Luxury Developers Private Limited that provides ready-to-move-in luxury homes in the environs of Alibaug only. "We hand over keys to a fully furnished home to our buyers,” he stated. They also build bespoke homes according to clients’ specifications and budgets. Located on the west coast of India, Alibaug lies southwest of Bombay and is known for its surrounding beaches. "We know that area best,” Karl stated.
Among their bungalows are Villa Areca, with a built up area of 6,000 sq ft on a 52,000 sq ft plot; the 5,000 sq ft Villa Solitaire that stands on 45,000 sq ft and Villa Ravenea (5,000 sq ft on 44,000 sq ft) to be completed by December 2020. Villa Bismarck, 9,000 sq ft built on a 88,000 sq ft plot was handed over in 2018. "No two Palmore homes look the same,” said Karl. Their ready villas range from six crore rupees to upwards of Rs 10 crores, depending on square footage, he stated.The company has built 10 homes since 2001, he revealed.
Construction work was not halted by the lockdown, he says. (In-situ construction was a permitted activity during the lockdown.) "We have laborers living on the property... Supplies of stone and other materials that were yet to arrive did trickle in.” He travels to Alibaug from his Bombay home three days a week. "I work with three reputed local land brokers in Alibaug who do the preliminary land title searches on behalf of Palmore,” Karl explained.
"Luxury lies in the peace of mind knowing that your plot of land has its own water supply, your roof generates solar power, and the food on your plate was grown on your own property.
"I see luxury – today more than ever – as a merger of desire and necessity...We have never seen a greater interest in our holiday homes than over the last four months... I am taking a new client to see our homes almost every week... During the pandemic, living on your own acre of land with a sprawling garden, tropical foliage, organic vegetable and herb gardens, safely tucked away yet easily accessible, is a luxury,” he stated.
His father, who built a holiday home for his family in 2001 in Alibaug, sensed a business opportunity. He sold that home and "the sale led to more.” Navzer then decided to scale back on commercial projects in Bombay. Among the residential and commercial projects handled by the senior gent in his "30-plus-year career,” the building for Central Bureau of Investigation in Bombay’s Bandra-Kurla Complex was among his last. "He built a home every year or so in Alibaug and earned his reputation as one of the most trusted private developers in the area,” said Karl. Navzer admires architect Frank Gehry who believed that "architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.”
Top (r): Karl Irani; above: luxury homes designed by his company Palmore
Karl moved back to India in 2016, having studied law at King’s College UK. "I practiced law very briefly as an intern in Bombay,” he noted. He has worked in Dubai and in the UK, setting up businesses with friends and family, "from an education platform to hospitality projects.” Having observed the trend of people travelling to Thailand "where everyone sought a spa,” he created The Palms Spa in Colaba, Bombay. After spending "weeks at a time” in Bangkok with Andrew Jacka, president of the Thai Spa Organisations, he "delivered an experience on par with a five star hotel... It went well, and I sold the brand to a friend three years after setting it up.”
Karl stated that he is not aware of other Zoroastrian companies in the field of ready-to-move-in homes in Alibaug. Isprava Real Estate Private Limited that specializes in the design and construction of luxury holiday homes in Goa and the Nilgiris is owned by Nibrant Shah, whose mother was the late Roxanne Shah (née Nazir). Kaiwaan Patel’s Nilgiri Bungalows, a project of Nilgiri Herbs Private Limited, creates bungalows in the eponymous hill district in South India.
The 38-yearl-old developer described his interior designer UK-based sister Natasha Melwani as his "go-to (person) and primary sounding board for so many decisions.” Mother Sanober "holds the fort – she’s the family’s all-round consultant.”
Karl calls himself "liberal” in matters of religion and stated that "living by the tenets of good thoughts, words and deeds matters so much in my business where goodwill and reputation count a lot.” He said that he reads the prayers "as I would read poetry... but I do want to understand the words... They must have significance to have survived thousands of years... Who knows, as I grow older I will figure them out.”
The company’s website is
www.palmore.in