09 January,2014 12:03 PM IST | | Varun Singh
There were no bids for the mammoth 24,706 sq m hotel at Juhu during an auction; realty experts say the lack of offers exposes the present slump in the industry
Hotel Tulip Star, formerly known as Centaur Hotel in Juhu, found no buyers during an auction. On Wednesday, the Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Limited had set up an auction to sell the 24,706-sq metre hotel located at prime property in Juhu. However, there were no bids for the sea-facing prime property. A top builder from the central suburbs, who was associated with the deal, said, "There were no bids to buy the hotel.
The Tulip Star Hotel has set a reserve price of Rs 1,315 crore. File pic
According to the information I have, no one came forward to purchase the hotel." The hotel's reserve price was set at Rs 1,315 crore and the earnest money deposit for what was one of suburban Mumbai's first five-star hotels was Rs 25 crore. The location was also open for inspection to prospective buyers on January 1 and January 2. Realty experts say that had the deal been inked, it would have been a big break for the realty market, which is slow right now with no big deal having taken place.
The failure of the auction also is a matter of concern, said some experts. "The reality of the realty market is now exposed. The fact that no one came forward to buy such a prime piece of property shows that there is a real serious liquidity crunch and even top builders, businessmen cannot afford such prices," said Ajay Chaturvedi, CEO of Accommodation Times, a real estate-centric newspaper.
Others added that the fact that the hotel was not bought showed that it was not just the common man who was facing problems. "The economy is bad and while the sales for homes is low, even top businessmen cannot bring in the money to buy homes. The deal falling through shows that the real estate market is going through a rough patch," added Prakash Rohira of Kkarma realtors.
Our calls to Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Limited (ARCIL), proved futile, as the person on the other end refused to share any information. He said, "We are under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and hence can't disclose anything about it." A message asking them whether they had got any bids also got us no results.
