mumbai diamond traders have started moving out of opera house but mumbais famous diamond hub which generates business worth rs 50000 crore a year has not lost its glitter developers property brokers and diamond traders who often fund builders are sensing an opportunity in redevelopment of these properties located in one of the prime south mumbai business districts even though merchants are shifting to the swanky bharat diamond bourse in the bandrakurla complex property prices in panchratna and prasad chambers are growing by the day property brokers as well as diamond merchants are citing higher floor space index potential as a key reason for this traders in prasad chambers from where many tenants have already moved to bdb have now formed a committee to identify and plan the redevelopment of this landmark building while these buildings built after 1960 are not categorised as cessed properties that fetch an fsi of 25 to 3 times there are options to derive the fsi benefit the panel will explore possibilities such as building a hotel hospital or educational institution that can fetch a higher fsi said satish shah secretary prasad chambers society floor space index indicates permissible development on a given land parcel the committee is yet to decide on an action plan for prasad chambers and the other two buildings occupying 2 acres but many developers and builders have shown interest in rebuilding these said shah for social infrastructure projects such as a hotel educational institution or hospital a developer can obtain a floor space index of over 3 timesbut for higher fsi the developer must seek the state governments approval the bigger traders were the first to move to bkc which promises more space better security proximity to banks and faster customs clearance within months more would follow but the lanes around opera house lined with joints offering savouries enjoyed by gujarati and marwari communities are still as crowded chances are its unlikely to change anytime soon as the diamond houses relocate gold jewellers in zaveri bazaar may shift to occupy offices in panchratna and prasad chambers this could be one of the options we are not in a hurry to take any decision as the emotional connect of members will always be there said vasant mehta exchairman of gems jewellery export promotion council perhaps sensing these commercial benefits traders are reluctant to sell their offices even after they shift to bkc unlike what people had anticipated property prices here have not eased theres no seller in panchratna prices are also steady in prasad chambers from where most traders have moved said naresh mehta secretary panchratna society currently property prices in panchratna are hovering around rs 50000 per sq ft as against rs rs 3800040000 a sq ft a yearandahalf ago in prasad chambers it is up from rs 45000 to rs 55000 a sq ft said arjan ramnani a property broker most diamond firms expecting a property play later think it makes sense to hold on to old offices