April 12, 2022 - The Adris Group is completing the necessary documentation for the Hotel Marjan renovation, after which work on the facility itself will begin!

The new tourist season is approaching, and Hotel Marjan is no different than the last fifteen years - or defunct since 2006 when entrepreneur Željko Kerum bought it. After the bankruptcy proceedings, it was purchased in 2017 by the Adris group from Rovinj, which plans to demolish it.

According to previous announcements, the hotel will be reduced by about 6.5 thousand square meters, which will try to get closer to the original form from the 1960s. In addition, they will try to neutralize the consequences of the never-completed renovation fifteen years ago, when the designer was Jerko Rošin, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

As part of that, two extensive hotel annexes will be removed, and it was once speculated that they would be converted into apartments. Reportedly, there will no longer be a glass facade that has deviated from the surrounding view. The new facade should follow the original ideas during the original design of the West Coast, which includes the color of the stone. A sizeable inner courtyard or atrium should also be formed.

Hotel Marjan, the former pride of Split tourism, was bought sixteen years ago for 170 million kuna, three times more than the initially requested price. After the grand renovation was promised, a contract was signed with the Hilton chain. But, as is well known, this investment was the catalyst for, conditionally speaking, the collapse of the Kerum dynasty business empire.

At the end of 2017, Adria Resorts bought receivables from the Austrian Heta Asset Resolution Group over the Marjan Hotel. They had previously done the same with claims over hotel annexes and claims from 72 former hotel workers. At the end of 2019, Marjan was bought at an electronic auction for 3/4 of the estimated value, i.e., HRK 324 million. 

Slobodna Dalmacija spoke to Adris Group about the latest plans for the hotel and the dynamics of the works that will put it into operation. They said that this is a demanding project that will contribute to the further tourist affirmation of Split and confirm Adris as the leading Croatian company in luxury tourism. As for the reconstruction itself, their wish is to thoroughly renovate Hotel Marjan and join it to the group of Adris luxury hotels (Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, Monte Mulini, Lone, Hilton in Dubrovnik). 

They also confirmed that, in cooperation with the city of Split and the relevant institutions, they are completing the necessary documentation for the renovation of Hotel Marjan, after which work on the facility itself will begin. The project details (architectural solution, capacities, content), designed by renowned 3LHD architect Piero Lissoni, will be promptly revealed to the general public.

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The failed Kerum trade chain is selling off its property in the area of ​​the inland Dalmatian town of Drnis, which once used to breed pigs for the well-known and widely adored Drnis prosciutto.

As Novac/Tanja Gattin Zebic writes on the 26th of January, 2020, namely, the courts had their eye on a former pig farm belonging to the Split-based ''Mesopromet'', which was one of the largest meat industries in all of Dalmatia until the Homeland War in the 1990s.

In the advertisement for sale it is named after its microlocation - the Miocic-Siveric pig farm. Today, this property in reality is actually a piece of construction land covering 165,779 square metres in total, along with its accompanying outbuildings. Its prige tag is estimated at a massive 12,434,000 kuna.

In addition, Laguna - a pool of 22,789 square metres in size, located on 40,263 square metres of agricultural land, otherwise worth 982,000 kuna, is also for sale.

The aforementioned pig farm known for the famous Drnis prosciutto and the Laguna pool will not be sold below their estimated respective values ​​in the first round of bidding, which runs until February the 18th, 2020, when the bids are due to arrive at the Commercial Court in Split. If they do not obtain a new owner at these prices, Kerum may, if it is agreed by the board of its creditors, lower the price until someone places a written offer for their purchase on the table.

The pig farm and Laguna used to be a technological unit. The controversial Zeljko Kerum once bought them for three million kuna during the bankruptcy of "Salonacoop", as "Mesopromet" changed its name in the process of its transformation from a public company to a joint stock company. After several rounds of public auctioning, the price then dropped significantly compared to the more than two million euros that the property was valued at.

Mesopromet once had its facilities in the Split areas of Dujmovaca, Drnis and Kosuta. On the website of the City of Drnis, it can be read that the production of Drnis prosciutto as a special brand for the market started back in 1969 with the establishment of the agricultural and industrial combination of Petrovo polje (field), and that the following year, Petrovo polje would partner up with the "Mesopromet" working organisation from Split.

Until 1991, the large meat industry was governed by a workers' council, and later the board of directors was appointed by the Croatian Restructuring and Development Agency.

At the end of 1991, the company had 1405 full-time employees and had assets worth just over two billion kuna. In the same year, it generated 2.7 million kuna, which was not enough as it resulted in a loss of 110,000 kuna.

Bankruptcy proceedings were first opened back in 1997 (the company was then called "Salonacoop") at the suggestion of employees because of the inability of the company to pay its liabilities, losses in operations, the sale of assets and a lack of work.

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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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Split’s wishes have finally come true. Hotel Marjan, once a symbol of the Dalmatian capital which for the last 11 years has been the city’s eyesore and a threat to the heart of the flourishing tourist town, is ready for sale, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on April 15, 2019. 

Namely, the bankruptcy was completed for "Adriatic" d.d. by making a conclusion about the sale. The process is final and the final document produced by the judge of the Commercial Court in Split, Ivan Čulić, will go to Fina, who will look for a buyer.

Fina will sell the hotel by an electronic public auction. The hotel itself is 5,679 square meters, with a substation, parking lot, three courtyards and stairs, altogether making up nearly 12,000 square meters. According to bankruptcy law, four auctions are envisaged. In the first the object cannot be sold below three-quarters of the established value, the second below one half, the third below one quarter, while the fourth is sold for one kuna.

According to the accepted assessment by court expert Jure Malenica, the price is EUR 58 million or HRK 432 million (VAT included, so that there would be no confusion), which means that the buyer must offer approximately EUR 44 million in the first auction. In the second auction EUR 29 million, then EUR 14.5 million, and so on. 

The bankruptcy administrator Ante Gabelica is convinced that the unfinished hotel will soon be sold since it is an attractive property in a prestigious location.

Interestingly, there is no lack of interest, but the keys to the future owners are firmly held by the "Adris Group", whose "Adria Resorts”, through the purchase of receivables, has already invested an amount that is close to or even higher than the total estimated value of the object. There would be an uproar if Adris did not eventually buy the hotel. After all, the powerful Rovinj company already announced a significant investment in Split in its annual plan.

Recall, Željko Kerum bought the hotel "Marjan" in 2005. Kerum paid HRK 170 million, which was three times more than the required HRK 57 million. Less than four years later, a contract with "Hilton" was signed, and Kerum became the mayor one month after that. Works on “Marjan” were quickly interrupted, and in 2015, it all ended with the bankruptcy of “Adriatic”.

Fortunately, Split’s best-known eyesore will soon get a new owner who will give a new dimension to the tourist offer of the city.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

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