Njenga Karume’s Jacaranda Hotel To Be Auctioned On January 22

2020 seems to have kicked off on a ‘high note’ for businesses in Kenya with auctioneers set to be busy this year as it appears their hammer will not stop falling.

Njenga Karume’s Jacaranda Hotel is set to be auctioned on the 22nd of January 2020 over an unpaid loan of 257.6 million shillings acquired from Guaranty Trust Bank.

Jacaranda Hotel has been at the center of family disputes among siblings of the late Njenga Karume over who should run and manage the multi-billion property.

Regent Auctioneers have already published a notice, inviting the public for the proceedings on January 22. The hotel sits on a lucrative and massive property that is likely to attract many investors.

The four-star Jacaranda Hotel has 128 bedrooms, fully equipped with en suite bathrooms, satellite TVs, and wireless internet connection at the heart of fast-expanding Westlands, Nairobi.

“Duly instructed by our clients, we shall set the under mentioned properties by public auction on Wednesday 22^nd, 2020 at our auction mart new Kireita building, Kirinyaga Road at 11 am,” read part of the notice.

Interested bidders are expected to place a deposit of 5 million shillings that will be refunded at the end of the auction.

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Land in Westlands, Nairobi is selling at a price more than that of gold. A 2019 report by Cytonn Investments showed an acre of land in Westlands has an average price of 145 million shillings. This means that the land alone where Jacaranda sits could be well over Sh500 million and the combined value could be over the 1 billion shilling mark.

Njenga Karume, a businessman and politician, died in 2012, leaving his multibillion estate in the hands of trustees who have been fighting over the right to own it for the past 7 years. The hotel has been in the red over succession fights, bad debts, mismanagement, and tax issues with Kenya Revenue Authority.

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