Browns to build Rs. 1.75b hotel

by Lalin FERNANDOPULLE

Browns Investments PLC, an entity owned by Brown and Company will expand its leisure sector by constructing a star-class,150-room hotel in Kosgoda at a cost of Rs. 1.75b.

Work on the project commenced in May this year. It has provision to increase the number of rooms to 172. The hotel is built on a unique site with the sea on the west side and two water bodies on the northern and eastern sides. The property is adjacent to a turtle hatchery providing a entertaining holiday experience to visitors. Group Chief Operating Officer Brown and Company PLC, Rimoe Saldin said that negotiations were in progress with an international hotel chain to manage the property.

The hotel will commence operations at end of 2014. Browns Investments will build two boutique hotels in Geragama and Ayr in the Pussellawa Plantation of the Free Lanka Capital Holdings, a public company with the major shareholders being Browns Investments and Perpetual Holdings.

The company is also constructing a 80,000 sq.ft multi-storied complex in Borella at a cost of Rs. 625m. Work on the project commenced in the latter part of 2011 and is scheduled to be completed in 18 months.

Browns Investments has business in hotels and leisure, plantations, agriculture, construction, manufacturing and exports, entertainment, power generation and real estate.

The company has ventured into a number of areas through investments and joint ventures. Some of these initiatives are investments in LOLC Leisure, the Sierra Group, Samudra Beach Hotel, Excel Holdings, Free Lanka Capital Holdings, Agstar Fertilizers Ltd, and Royal Fernwood Porcelain.

Browns Investments and LOLC co-own Riverina, Palm Garden Hotel, Eden, Tropical Villas and Dickwella Village Resort. These properties comprise over 620 rooms in the Southern Province.