Hitting back at critics of plans for a mansion in Wyndham’s Tarneit suburb, Cr Intaj Khan said his plans for a grand residence is not to glorify personal wealth, but to put the spotlight on an immigrant’s hard work.
Wyndham councillor Intaj Khan last week unveiled plans for a 2400-square-metre 14-bedroom mansion, the largest residential property in Wyndham and possibly in the west. Cr Khan, founder and chief executive of the Western Institute of Technology, has estimated that when complete, the Mansion, with its helipad and tennis court, will be valued at $9.5 million.
The property, which Cr Khan calls, “a tribute to Australia”, on a four-hectare block at Derrimut Road will include indoor and outdoor swimming pool, movie theatre, gym, seven-car garage, two meeting rooms, two lounge rooms, and a library.
“I spend most of my time in Tarneit and I think it’s a great area,” Cr Khan told Star Weekly. “Why would you want to go somewhere else and have a small property when you could have 10 acres 25 kilometres from the city?” says Khan.
Although he has received criticism for his ‘Khan Mansion’, some dubbing it the ‘In-taj Mahal’, Cr Khan believes the “mansion is about what an immigrant can achieve in Australia”. “This is not a personal success story. My plans have made immigrants and refugees happy. Hard work will be rewarded. It’s a monument to an immigrant’s hard work more than personal successes,” says Cr Khan, who believes his house will increase the area’s value and that of nearby Rothwell estate, which is under construction.
“We have Werribee Mansion that was built in 1874. This was the result of hard work done by pioneering pastoralists Thomas Chirnside and his brother Andrew Chirnside. History did not judge them unfairly. They are grand monuments open to public and it has historical significance. Plans for a mansion now may attract jealousy but I’m sure history will judge me fairly,” says Cr Khan.
“We have billions of dollars pouring into the Australian economy from Chinese property investors. This century India will rise as an economy and my plans will send out a message to Indian property investors to invest in Wyndham. This will create jobs. This is a message of confidence to Indians who want to invest in a stable growing region,” added Cr Khan.
“I want to see other people do the same in the west. The west is the changing face of Melbourne,” he says. Cr Khan says he wants to see developers create more luxury housing estates modelled on Sanctuary Lakes, with large blocks enabling families to have tennis courts and pools, and keep horses.
Construction on the property will begin by the end of this year and is expected to take 12 months.
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