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The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) Trust has offered to buy the iconic Hotel Regent Plaza in Karachi for Rs14.5 billion.
The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) Trust, a non-profit healthcare organization, plans to buy this 400-room hotel with 20% occupancy to transform the property into a tertiary-care general hospital.
The 47,000-square-foot hotel, owned by Pakistan Hotel Developers Limited (PHDL), could be converted into a healthcare facility within a year.
The proposed hospital’s location is advantageous, being close to existing health facilities like the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, the National Institute of Child Health, and the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center.
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The deal is pending approval from PHDL, and the SIUT Trust is willing to secure loans and public funding to acquire the property.
In the 2021-22 fiscal year, the hotel had a 20% occupancy rate, a notable increase from the previous year, which had a 9% rate due to COVID-19. PHDL reported a 38.3% decrease in net profit in the first nine months of the 2022-23 fiscal year.
Speaking to the publication, SIUT Trustee Syed Shabbar Zaidi said: ‘“Karachi badly needs another tertiary-care health facility and constructing a large health facility by acquiring land would take years. In these circumstances, it is the best option to acquire a built structure in the heart of the city and convert it into a health facility,”
