August 19, 2019 - The sale of Hotel Marjan to the Adris Group means that this former tourist pearl and a current eyesore on the West Coast Riva in Split will shine once again.
Frankly, there is no reason not to believe that in the years to come, after its reconstruction and renovation, 'Hotel Marjan' will become the pride of this Rovinj group, just like the Hilton Imperial Hotel in Dubrovnik and the Grand Park in Rovinj, which opened in April this year with a HRK 1.5 billion investment, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.
Therefore, when the public electronic auction of Hotel Marjan ended with one Adris Group bid of 324,046,698 kuna, Split collectively let out a sigh of relief. Recall, we’ve waited for the sale for four years, which is how long the bankruptcy proceedings of "Adriatic d.d." took at the Split Commercial Court. You can read more about that here.
This Rovinj group has waited long enough to invest big money in Split, and we can only hope that the transaction will be completed as soon as possible. Though we know the sale process is far from complete.
Ante Gabelica, bankruptcy manager of "Adriatic d.d.", said it will take months before the buyer receives the papers that will allow them to register as the new owner of the famous Split hotel.
The Adris Group didn’t want to get ahead of themselves, either.
“Let's wait for the legal process to be completed, after which we will be able to talk about the details of the hotel renovation. So far, we can only tell you that we did not hide our ambitions. Adris is a serious investor. We are sure that Split will get the hotel that this beautiful Croatian city deserves,” said Predrag Grubić, director of corporate communications at Adris Group.
At the moment, we only know about their plans for Split, which were published on its website in June:
“By 2023, Adris will invest more than HRK 2 billion in tourism, keeping 95 percent of hotel capacity at the highest level of supply. In addition to investments in Rovinj, Vrsar, Zagreb, and Dubrovnik, there are plans to invest in Split, a growing and recognizable Croatian tourist destination.”
Former employees of the failed Adriatic company are pleased with the sale. Representative Ante Ledenko pointed out:
“We want the Adris Group as a quality investor to make a great hotel and to settle our claims of EUR 2 million, as promised in writing to each worker individually. We should be treated as partners, not as factors that hinder investment.”
The entry of the Adris Group also means that the staunch construction site of the hotel will no longer be the eyesore of Split. Back in 2012, the hotel was closed by a building inspection, as its owner, Željko Kerum, stepped down from the main project. Since then, this space has been without sufficient physical and technical care. Because of this, homeless people, foreigners, and other curious strangers have entered the construction site for years almost unobstructed, and are exposed to a decrepit structure and many broken windows.
Written warnings from the police, as well as from the city's Department of Public Utilities, indicate that this is a major problem, pointing out that damaged panels on the front of the hotel endanger the safety of passers-by.
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