Will Kupari finally receive the breath of fresh air it's been desperate for?
There are many depressing stories circulating around when it comes to investment in Croatia, and the process, even for the most eager investor of all, is difficult. The long road bordered by the country's infamous red tape is not one easily walked by most, with a great many giving up on what would be incredible projects and taking their cash elsewhere because of Croatia's barely oiled system. The uglier face of Dubrovnik, Kupari, is one such victim.
Dragged down to its knees during the war, the former resort built for the then Yugoslav military elite has stood in a state of perpetual ruin on the outskirts of Dubrovnik for very many years, hidden from the prying eyes of tourists who might be shocked with the discovery when approaching from the land, but painfully visible from the sea. The tale of many would-be investors, companies, and indeed private individuals coming and going over the years with various attempts to purchase, re-do, re-build and renew the abandoned resort is an endless one.
While stories of many formerly luxury hotels and resorts along Croatia's coast meeting an unpleasant fate during the war are somewhat plentiful, Hotel Belvedere, another former Dubrovnik gem-turned-eyesore being perhaps the most famous of them all, they never cease to sadden onlookers with their sheer lack of life and gradually deteriorating structural skeletons.
Now only ever populated by locals and visitors from just over the border in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kupari beach, surrounded by dilapidated, formerly glorious hotels, has been left in a state of utter ruination for far too long, slowly stagnating between potential buyers, investors, and the unstoppable, harsh march of time as the buildings grow weaker from their lack of care and their exposure to the elements.
As Marija Crnjak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 8th of June, 2018, it has been unofficially confirmed that the new hotel operator in Kupari will be the well-known Four Seasons hotel company. After so many promises having amounted to nothing over the long years, could this finally be the new start Kupari is so desperately aching for?
It has been reported that the annex should be signed within the next few days, followed by urban planning development and then an idea for the final project, a process which isn't expected to last longer than around ten months, including the obtaining of all of the relevant permits required to move forward. If everything goes according to what the current plans are, the contract with the operator should be signed within one year of the signing of the annex contract, according to Ivan Paladina, CEO and co-founder of Avenue Investments.
Paladina also confirmed that the investor has already submitted a letter to the State Property Ministry with regard to the hotel operator, meaning that one of the key provisions of the new annex has been met.
Click here for the original article by Marija Crnjak for Poslovni Dnevnik
