The changing skyline of Bogra

Residential buildings are sprouting in Bogra town. With realtors undertaking more and more development work, the face of the town is changing. Photo: Hasibur Rahman Bilu

In a span of seven years since the real estate business took off in Bogra, the city witnessed at least 100 multi-storey buildings worth Tk 500 crore. Local businessmen and Dhaka-based realtors constructed the high-rises dealing in land, flats and commercial space.
Dolphin Tower, the first nine-storey in Bogra town in Jaleshwaritala, was completed in 2008 at a cost of Tk 8 crore. “Of the total 64 units of the building, more than half were sold before the completion of the project,” said Md Zulfiqer Ali, managing director of the Dolphin Tower Project.
Construction work began in end 2004 and was completed by the end of 2008, said Ali. “The housing business in the locality was pioneered by the Snigdha Housing chief, Moaiz Uddin Mahi, about eight years back.”
Only three years ago, Ali sold built space for Tk 750 to Tk 800 per square feet in his building, which has increased to Tk 1,200 now.
Md Abdul Gofur of Shah Sultan Properties Ltd said: “As a sister concern of Shah Sultan Group, I started dealing in real estate in Bogra only last year.” The company undertook construction of a ten-storey building in Jaleshwaritala in the town, as its first venture.
“We have already sold 41 units out of a total of 56 in the building,” said Arifur Rahman, marketing officer of Shah Sultan Properties. The project kicked off in November 2009.
Rahman said they sold built space for Tk 2,500 a square feet in the building. Work on the project will be completed within a few months, he added. At least 20 high-rise buildings are currently under construction in the Jaleshwaritala area.
Bhandari City, a housing project in Kalitala area, sold 48 plots of land in one and a half years. “I started developing Bhandari City-1 in 2006 and the project was closed in 2008, said Bappi Bhandari, the project's chief executive officer.
“We started another housing project -- Mega City -- with 175 plots in the same area a few months back,” he said. A businessman from Dhaka purchased about 129 decimals of land in the project, he added.
Amicus, a Dhaka-based real estate company, started its business in Bogra about six years ago, said Md Rezaul Karim, an engineer of the company. The company's first project was Amicus Shapno Nir at Raham Nagar in the town.
Karim said the company undertook at least 15 projects in Bogra in the last six years. The first project, a six-storey building, was completed at a cost of Tk 2.25 crore and it sold each square feet for Tk 1,000.
Jamil Group of Industries started the construction works of a 10-storey building, AGB Heights, at a cost of Tk 10 crore in Jamil Nagar. Construction works began in 2008 and will be completed by December this year.
“Eight out of a total of 24 units there have already been sold,” said Md Hafizur Rahman Montu, a manager at Jamil Group. Twelve units out of a total of 50 have been reserved for shopping areas.
The first project of Ghazi Real Estate was completed at a cost of Tk 2.50 crore in Sutrapur area last year. The company started construction works of 'Ghazi Palace' in 2009 and completed it by the end of 2010.
Ghazi Shafiqul A Choudhury, chairman and managing director of Ghazi Real Estate, said he sold flats for Tk 30 lakh each at Tk 1,500 a square feet. “I sold the last one for Tk 39 lakh.”
Choudhury sold the flats at Tk 2,000-2,600 per square feet. The company started another project, Pallab Ghazi, in the same area at a cost of Tk 8 crore. The construction of the eight-storey building is likely to be completed by December 2012, said Engineer Md Rezaul Karim.
Delta Life Insurance Company started the construction works of a 21-storey commercial building in Bhandari City-1 at a cost of Tk 63 crore.
National Development Engineers (NDE) Ltd began works on July 15 in 'Delta Life Tower, the tallest building in the north.
“We hope construction will be completed by July 2013,” said Kazi Joynul Abedin, an engineer of NDE Ltd.
Another renowned business house, Runner Group, purchased 50 decimals of land at Nawab Palace at a cost of Tk 6 crore to construct a multistoried commercial building.
Md Sairul Islam, director of Runner Properties, said they plan to construct a 12-storey building there at a cost of Tk 80 crore. “At least 40 businessmen have expressed their interest to buy space there,” added Islam.