21.1.09

Taj to restore Sea Rock


The restoration plan for Hotel Sea Rock at the fag end of Bandra Bandstand will now see the Taj Group chipping in with its expertise. The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) owns the Taj Land’s End located bang opposite Sea Rock.A deal with IHCL was sealed after plans for restoring Sea Rock with help from leading luxury hotel brand Mandarin Oriental fell apart.The five-star Sea Rock, which had 440 rooms, was known for its rooftop restaurant, the only revolving restaurant in Mumbai other than the Ambassador in Churchgate. It shut shop after it became one of the targets of the 1993 blasts that caused huge damage to the structure and a loss of Rs 9 crore for its earlier owners.
This was followed by a longdrawn property dispute until the Delhi-based Claridges Group bought it. It was to be reopened in 2009 as a five-star deluxe in collaboration with Mandarin Oriental. The company had announced plans to have 300-plus rooms, commercial and retail space and service apartments in the redeveloped property.
An IHCL spokesperson said, “Indian Hotels Company Limited has entered into a strategic arrangement with Delhi-based Claridges Group that owns Sea Rock to provide technical and management expertise for restoration, and operation of the hotel when the redevelopment of the property is completed.” The group, however, did not comment on the stake each party would have in the deal and other logistics involved in the restoration of the hotel, which will now be reopened in 2011 as The Claridges.
Real estate sources state that the Sea Rock was among hotels that had pushed for the recent increase in Floor Space Index for hotels in Mumbai. With the FSI now being raised to 3.5 from 2 in the suburbs, the redeveloped hotel would have many more rooms provided it gets the necessary Coastal Zone Management clearances.

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