I was allowed to enter the site and towers of Phase 1 on 21st Aug 2010. Here is what I saw :
1. Towers 1 to 6 are almost complete. The apartments need to be cleaned and handed over, most of the other work is done. The entrance of the building has a large lobby which is nice. Iron grills for all open spaces are in place, the walkway leading to the entrance has stone and wooden linings, each tower number is clearly marked on a large black granite stone outside the building.
2. Towers 7, 8 and 9 are incomplete, both externally and internally. Tiles are not yet in place, flooring and bathroom fittings haven't been placed. Paintwork is pending and all the external work is also pending. It will be at least 2 -3 months before towers 7,8 and 9 reach the stage where towers 1 - 6 is today.
3. There is NO clubhouse anywhere. There is a structure near the swimming pool for towers 1 to 6 that looks like the changing room, besides that, there is no structure where the clubhouse could be!
4. Between towers 7,8 and 9, there is another swimming pool. There is also a large cemented ring - which looks like either a skating rink or tennis court (cemented?)
5. Inside the apartment - this is interesting - the C type apartments have a really large study. The master bedroom also has a nice area for walk-in closet. The study is small in the A & B type apartments.
6. The quality of most of the fittings used is very very poor. The main door lock - for example- is so light and of poor quality that a hard push could open the door. The tiles - specially in the bathroom -is of ugly color and cheap quality. All the taps - though of Jaguar brand - and very small and looks fake. The commodes and washbasin are small - and white. The bathtub in A & B type apartments are too small, it's decent sized in C type apartments. The electrical switches are also of some cheap make. I suppose a lot of investments will have to be made to do up the apartment if one expects to live in it.
7. Overall, compared to other apartments in Gurgaon, the layout is nice. In terms of actual size, the 2350 Sq Ft apartment is almost of the same size as the 1890 Sq Ft apartments in Central Park 1. The actual floor area looks about 1600 - 1700 Sq Ft - not more. The ground floor apartments - which were supposed to be used for common purposes earlier - have been sold by CP2, so the super builtup area should have come down but it hasn't.
8. The bedroom sizes are small - and there is no place for built-in cabinets. The wooden floor is the cheapest quality laminate flooring of an ugly orangish color.
9. The biggest worry. There is a boundary wall segregating towers 1 to 6 from 7,8 and 9. There is another boundary wall segregating towers 7,8 and 9 from the rest of the project. All together, these towers cannot access the "Central Vista" where the large parks and jogging track will be unless these walls are removed. The entrance and exit gates for Phase 1 is separate from the entrance gate for the rest of the project. If the boundary wall looked like a temporary structure, I would have thought that it was temporary till the rest of construction continued but from the looks of it, it seems like a very permanent structure.
10. One nice thing, the entrance to Raheja Mall is exactly on the opp side of the road. Though the mall is vacant now (except for a Subway that opened last week), it will be very convenient to just walk across to the mall for daily needs.
I'm making the google group - http://groups.google.com/group/centralpark2 the official place for residents to discuss. Once you sign up, the email for the group is
centralpark2@googlegroups.com to which you send send mails to discuss anything.
