|
Friday, 23.09.2011
Strabag to build luxury Four Seasons Hotel near the Kremlin
Moscow. The Austrian construction company Strabag starts a new job in the immediate vicinity of the Kremlin. A luxury Four Seasons Hotel will be built at the banks of the Kremlin, the developer being a close friend to the oligarch Mikhail Fridman.
|
|
The Kremlin is a good construction area for Strabag. After having built the Hotel Moscva, Strabag has now been asked to build a hotel and luxury apartments on the opposite side of the Kremlin, the Sofiskaha Naberezhnaya (Sofia-shore).
|
Planned for years but never implemented
Plans for a Four Seasons in this area had been drawn up since 2005. For this purpose a three acre piece of land had specifically been approved. OAO "Kremlin Sait" and OAO "Kammeny Most" own the lease for the period of 49 years.
|
The two unknown corporations belong to the former Duma minister Ashot Jegiasarjan, part of the Shirinovski party LDPR, according to a newspaper report. Last year, Jegiasajan lost his mandate as he is under investigation for fraud, including the construction of the Hotel Moscva.
|
Fridman takes over the project
The project that had been put on ice will now be thawed. The investment company, the Alpha Group A1, took over the companies. The billionaire Mikhail Fridman, who owns the Alpha Group, is rumored to have close connections to the Kremlin administration, especially Vladislav Surkov, the chief ideologist.
|
The construction project is being developed by DB Development. According to its Director General Dmitry Garkuscha, a building with an area of 86,000 square meters is to be erected, 36,000 square meters for luxury apartments, 18,000 for the hotel and the remainder for an underground garage with 400 car spaces.
|
The cost of the project is estimated at around $300 million, the general contractor is Strabag, this was confirmed by Alexander Ortenberg, Head of Strabag in Russia. The hotel chain Four Seasons is supposed to run the hotel, comprising of 100 hotel rooms. Hotels near the Kremlin, just about everywhere
Thus the number of five-star hotels in the vicinity of the Kremlin is increasing. The National, the Metropol, the Balschug-Kempinski and the Ritz-Carlton are already now in walking distance from the Kremlin. The completion of the hotel Moscva was delayed because of numerous scandals but its opening is imminent.
|
It is also rumored that in the area, where the once enormous hotel Rossija stood (it was the largest hotel in Europe until it was closed and demolished in 2006) a new hotel is to be built. Other rumors are stating that in its place a enormous parliament building will be erected to incorporate the upper and lower house (Duma and Federation Council).
Original German text can be found here >>>
|
|
