Citrus Leisure subsidiary to manage George Steuart’s new city hotel

20 May 2015 04:02 am

George Steuart & Co. Ltd’s upcoming landmark city hotel will be managed by Citrus Silver Limited, a newly formed, fully-owned subsidiary of Citrus Leisure PLC, which in turn is a subsidiary of George Steuart Group.
Citrus Silver will enter into a lease agreement with the George Steuart Group in June to operate the 50-room boutique hotel for 10 years.
Named ‘The Stewart by Citrus’ with a Scottish theme, the property is the 175-year old ‘Steuart House’, the colonial building which had till then functioned as the headquarters of Sri Lanka’s oldest mercantile establishment.
The property consists of two interconnected buildings, one which faces the Central Bank, and the other the Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct.
The transformation took just over one year at a cost of Rs.350 million, and the chief architect was Nishantha Munasinghe, who designed Citrus Hikkaduwa.
Following the decision in 2013, George Steuart Group Chairman Dilith Jayaweera had said the move made business sense, since the then government had identified the Colombo Fort area as a designated zone for entertainment and leisure activities.
Meanwhile, the Citrus group is being scrutinized by the regulator for failing to start the construction of Kalpitiya Beach Resort, following an initial public offering in 2011. 
It is now exploring alternative locations in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
George Stewart & Co. and related parties own over 47.1 percent of the shares in Citrus Leisure.
 (CW)