By Zaheer Memon
Partner, Zara Habitats
Born and brought up in Mumbai in a family full of professionals, I always had the inclination to be an entrepreneur. All through my days at St Michael’s School, Mahim and then Jai Hind College, Churchgate, I had a flair for creativity, design, luxury and the good life. I was curious to see how luxurious hotel properties operated, and how they feel from within. My love for architecture, plush interiors and grand hotel properties led me to IHM, Dadar for post-graduation in Hotel Management. Training at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Colaba for six months after that, I was awestruck by the opulence and grandeur of the Taj property. Every corner, lobby, pillar, the ceilings and staircases only kept intriguing me. By the end of my training, I was pretty sure that I was falling in love with architecture. But the family mandate was for higher education, so I joined law school.
For any form of business in any country of the world, an in-depth knowledge of the law of the land is extremely useful, giving you a certain clarity of mind and interpretation of applicable policies. As for me, while at law school, my love for real estate only matured. I started actively trading in real estate - buying properties, holding them, renovating them, refurbishing them, leasing them out or merely selling them for a decent profit. I established good networks with real estate brokers, consultants and developers. At one point, I almost knew every building around my location, and also the accurate sizes of apartments in those buildings; while projects were in my mind.
Eventually, it was time to get into creation of spaces myself - spaces close to reality and not just a by-product of marketing and unachievable fantasies. For my partner and me, the goal was to create sensibly planned spaces and smart-sized apartments that would provide a home-buyer his affordable dream home. Moreover, having been investors ourselves in the past, we had to take care that asset appreciation was assured to buyers. Thus was born Zara Habitats.
Now, I continue to dream. I work out at the gym, I love drives on weekends and going out with close friends. I find travel therapeutic, especially if the destination is Goa or London. I learn to let go and live life with serenity. I imbibe positivity and some mystique, all of which I put back in the spaces I build.
Feedback: zaheer.memon@zarahabitats.com
