Sunshine Construction close to sign franchise deal with Marriott International
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – After delays lasting several months, Sunshine Construction is close to seal a franchise agreement involving the management of what will become the first Marriott apartment and courtyard hotels in Ethiopia to be built and owned by Sunshine Construction Plc. The company is expected to sign an agreement with Marriott in two months’ time, according to sources.
Marriot International will manage the five-star executive apartment hotel, Marriot Executive Apartment, whose construction is being completed by Sunshine Construction Plc. In addition to the hotel apartment located opposite Estifanos Church off Meskel Square, Sunshine will construct a four-star hotel resort, Courtyard Marriot, around Bole Medhane Alem area.
Courtyard Marriot will be constructed on a 4,000 square meter plot of land the construction company secured from the Addis Ababa City Administration’s lease office last year.
To manage a hotel under its brand, Marriott requires that the hotel should have, at least, 250 rooms.
Marriot Executive Apartment will have 110 rooms while the courtyard, whose construction is yet to be launched, will have 160.
It is mandatory that Sunshine Construction launch the construction of the courtyard hotel as soon as possible. The overall interior design of the executive hotel apartment was undertaken by Marriott International, for which Sunshine paid USD 50,000. Sunshine Construction Plc will invest over 250 million birr in Marriot Executive Apartment when the project is fully completed while the investment layout for the Courtyard Marriott is projected to hit 200 million. But current rising construction costs may take the investment up, according to industry observers.
Marriott International is a leading lodging company, according to information posted at its website. Its heritage can be traced to a root beer stand opened in Washington, D.C., in 1927 by J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott. Today, Marriott International has more than 3,200 lodging properties located in the United States and 66 other countries and territories.
Source: Ethiopian Reporter
