ITC Buys 26% in Logix’s 5-Star Hotel Property

Company to invest around . 100 crore in Noida Hotel

RAVI TEJA SHARMA NEW DELHI

Cigarettes-to-hotels major ITC has bought 26% stake in a 275-room, five-star luxury hotel property. It is being developed by Noidabased Logix Group in Noida’s Sector 105. The company will be investing close to . 100 crore in the project and will also manage it under the top-end ITC hotels brand.
The total project cost of the hotel, which is a part of a larger 7-acre commercial and retail development called Riviera 105, is . 440 crore, a source said. The hotel construction is expected to be completed in 36 months.
When contacted, the managing director of Logix Group, Shakti Nath said that discussions were on with ITC at the moment, but declined to divulge any further details. In an email response, ITC said: “It will be premature to comment at this stage.”
On the remainder of the plot in Sector 105, which is just ahead of Unitech’s Grande project on the Noida-Greater Noida expressway, Logix is making an 800,000 sq ft of commercial office space, 500,000 sq ft of retail space and a budget hotel as well.
It has already tied up with global food retail chain Spar International for a hypermarket and is also planning an eleven-screen multiplex here.
ITC Hotels, which wanted to build a five-star hotel in Noida, had bought a hotel plot in Sector 97 in 2006.
It was reported earlier that ITC had surrendered the plot, after the Supreme Court judgement that asked for a higher payment for the land. The land was allotted in 2006 by Noida Authority for 14 hotels in the run up to the Commonwealth Games during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s tenure.
Later, when Mayawati came to power, all the allotments were cancelled, citing irregularities during the allotment. Recently, the Supreme Court had ordered the hotel firms to either pay extra money for the plots or the state government would refund the amount they had deposited with interest for the period.
Noida is emerging as a hot hotel destination with about 18 new hotels under planning, with close to 4,200 rooms, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The Delhi suburb has currently four hotels with 300 rooms.
Logix itself has tied up with Marriott Hotels to build a 450-room Marriott property and a 250-room Ritz Carlton in Sector 124, Noida.
A number of hotels such as St Regis, Grand Hyatt, Radisson, Fairfield Inn and Movenpick have already been announced on the 25-kilometre stretch of the Noida-Greater Noida expressway.