Latest update November 23rd, 2024 1:00 AM
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Chinese to buy Cacique Palace and Banquet Hall
A sales team appointed to seek buyers for the Cacique Palace and Banquet Hall on the East Bank Demerara, is now wrapping up arrangement with a new prospective buyer-some Chinese nationals.
This is according to Keith Burrowes, who is acting on behalf of Government in overseeing the sale of the property, in collaboration with the original investors.
Cacique Palace and Banquet Hall
The incomplete building was being constructed as a hotel to accommodate visitors for the Cricket World Cup in 2007.
However its completion was set back by a number of years as the original investors apparently ran into financial difficulties.
The Cacique Palace and Banquet Hall has been on the market for about four years, with numerous persons and businesses expressing interests.
However, the sales team was unable to secure a buyer that was willing to pay the requested price. They were reportedly hoping to secure US$5M (G$1B) for the incomplete structure.
Withholding the actual amount now being offered for the hotel, Burrowes said the Chinese have placed the highest bid since the structure has been put on sale.
In March, Burrowes told Kaieteur News that the sales team was hoping to have the contract inked for the sale of the hotel. However, that did not materialize and the sales team had considered taking that failed prospect to court. Apparently, modifications were made to the building at the behest of the “potential buyer” at the expense of Cacique Palace and Banquet Hall.
According to Burrowes, negotiations have been completed between the Chinese and the sales team. Amendments are currently being made to the contract, which is expected to be inked shortly. He said the agreement is being done to benefit all parties involved, especially the proprietor.
Work on the hotel – originally slated as a US$3.5 million (G$700M) project – began in late January 2006, and was to have been completed by the end of the same year. At the time of the construction, the government facilitated $30M from the Consolidated Fund. That money was turned over on the agreement that it was an advance payment for rooms, but with no business being conducted, the money will be repaid when the structure is sold.
Burrowes related that he is hopeful that the structure would finally be sold since there are no plans to invest further. He said to maintain the building is quite costly and from time to time persons would have to clean it. In addition, with irregular upkeep, the building has begun to deteriorate.
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