I just read this in the news. Daily Times has reported the inauguration of The Centaurus, Pakistan’s first seven-star hotel project, in Islamabad.
I am left wondering what are these people thinking? Can Pakistan afford, and sustain, a 7-star hotel? Do we really need one? And what is a 7-star hotel, after all? We can barely maintain a decent 2 or 3 star hotel in our major cities. Are we now competing with Dubai for architectural grandiosity? And whoever came up with the name should probably look for a job in Hollywood…
ISLAMABAD: The Centaurus, Pakistan’s first seven-star hotel project, was inaugurated on Thursday. The $350 million complex is planned to have a 37-storey deluxe hotel, with two 21-storey residential towers, a 25-storey corporate office complex, and a 5-storey shopping mall. The complex will have a parking lot that would accommodate over 2,000 vehicles. The project will be completed in three years… The Pak Gulf Construction Private Limited company (PGCL) and Messrs Atkins engineering company – the constructors of Dubai’s renowned Burj Al Arab – are executing the project. Saudi Arabian Al-Tamimi Group and the Sardar Group of Companies are making the investment….
President General Pervez Musharraf on Thursday said it was “the right time to invest in Pakistan� because of the country’s positive economic policies of de-regulation, liberalisation and privatisation coupled with a liberal foreign exchange regimen. “We have opened all sectors of the economy for investment and the scourge of red-tapism and bureaucratic delays are being done away with,� said the president at the foundation-laying ceremony of The Centaurus.
As has been alluded to by others before, I think a conversation on property prices in Pakistan would be very interesting. The expats really have been a major issue in the market for real estate…..my parents (who are NOT expats) are looking for a new house in Karachi these days and they said that 80% of the houses that are up for sale are owned by expats!!! This is really apalling.
I’ve always wondered about this, so maybe some of you can answer this question….do we have higher property taxes for houses that nobody is living in? i.e. I think in some countries, you pay the normal property tax on your first or primary house (i.e. the one you actually live in) but the tax is much higher for any other property you own. It would be great if Pakistan had something like that…this would make the market less attractive to expats and would make the market as a whole much more stable.
You hear so much about the explosion in property prices in Karachi. Yes, that is true, but the untold story is that most of these expensive houses are not occupied..the expats may be snapping up property…but most of them dont intend to occupy these places….so after this boom there will probably be a sharp decline that wont be too good for the market.
Such projects are good indicators of economic growth. More so when the investors are foreigeors who have the whole world open to invest in. A project this size will create thousands of new jos in the construction sector and then in the servicing sector. The hotels in Pakistan, like elsewhere in the world depend on business and tourist travellers, not on public money. Even when visiting family in Pakistan, I prefer to stay in a hotel because it allows all of us privacy.
Why is it that every time one sees some money in Pakistan, you find a hundred not-haves lamenting that the money would be better spent on education or health care. An investment is a business decision. Businesses are in the business of turning a profit. Take the profit incentive away and no one would invest in anything. There have been thousands of small and large investments in those fields also. Just look at the number of private schools, universities, hospitals, and clinics that have sprung up in the last 10 years. I remember a time not long ago when you could count universities in Pakistan on the fingers of your two hands.
I agree with Naveed.
More investment would generate more employment opportunities and circulation of money as well which will benefit the overall economy.
I’m surprised at all of your comments. While I agree fully with most of you who say that inevitably a lot of money from the national wealth will end up being squandered at this hotel, I think the hotel by itself is not a bad idea.
Until very recently, the filthy rich in Pakistan (and there’s quite a few) have been going abroad to splurge their money. Why is it bad if our local economy gets some of that cash? While an overspending population (i.e. like the U.S.) makes the economy very fragile, I think Pakistan needs more opportunities for cash rotation.
What would you rather have these people do: a) buy up more property or b) spend an obscene amount of money in a luxury hotel?
In the U.S. I’m surprised at how much money stupid, rich people are willing to spend on useless nonsense….I bet we have a good share of such people as well…and it’s about time their money got rotated out.
Also, a luxury tax would not be a bad idea either…..
So in conclusion, we don’t need a 7-star hotel, but I don’t think it will do so much harm….if international investors want to come in and spend large amounts of money on high-risk projects, we should roll out the welcome mat.
The current global economic system we live in (good or bad) and which most of us exPaKs are beneficiary of (from UAE to USA to Australia) do encourage such consumption and extravagance….but as Bilal rightly points out, most of the developed countries don’t have the disparity in living standards that we have. But here too sadly we are not alone; India is already ahead of us…..
Some good out of this and other such sales of land/assets could come if the money out of the sale would be earmarked say directly for the rebuilding of new communities for earth-quake effectees or other development projects… instead of begging for money from the international community. That in turn could go a long way in restoring the national self respect and reduction of animosity between the haves and have nots by making them mutual stake holders in the development…..
I think it is good to build this hotel in Pakistan. I will feel proud if a 7-star hotel existed in Pakistan eventhough I may never afford to stay in it :) It can be a good source of foreign exchange too. Build it! i’d say.
Bilal,
This investment is from UAE royal family on the most expensive plot ever been auctioned in Islamabad. I dont remember the exact figures but it was between Rs 5-7 billions.
I don’t think the story indicated any direct investments frm the government, sans any tax beenfits they may have received as a favor.
However, the fact that we think our society can sustain either street side beds (chaarpais) or 5/7 star hotel, but not much in between, speaks volumes for the income disparities in our society.