The Italian tycoon Guiseppe Cipriani informed the Maldonado Departmental Board that the Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris withdrew from the San Rafael hotel project, as reported by The Daily and confirmed The Observer.
The exchange between Cipriani and the Works Commission of the departmental legislative body took place at the initiative of the mayors this Thursday, through Zoom —since the Italian is in Qatar—, according to the nationalist mayor and president of that commission, said. Luis Artola.
At the meeting, which according to Artola was called “for informational purposes”, the councilors asked Cipriani if the project to build the hotel continued in the same way that it had been proposed. It was then that the Italian informed them that Sawiris had gotten off the investment group. In any case, “Cipriani clarified that this situation was not an impediment for the project to go ahead and that, if it were approved, works would begin this December,” added Artola.
However, the initiative must now pass from the Works Commission to the departmental plenary and, once it is issued, it may eventually enter the mayor’s office “so that the permits are issued,” the mayor explained.
For Artola, Cipriani expressed his desire to carry on with the hotel, although the delay in the management of the permits for the work can delay the beginning until March or April of next year “if everything goes well”.
Consulted for the reason that led the commission not to approve the project yet, Artola explained to The Observer that some of the questions made by the councilors that make it up had not yet been answered by the businessman. Those questions pointed to “sayings by Cipriani himself, which he had issued in other appearances” before the Departmental Board during the presentation of the initiative. The councilors’ questions seek to find out, for example, “if the project was viable with or without a casino,” said Artola.
Artola explained that the initiative “will continue under study” and that it is still not certain when it will go to plenary.
Some councilors of the option in that department questioned the initiative of the San Rafael hotel. The front player Fernando Borges disclosed through his Facebook account that the Egyptian investor was no longer part of the initiative: “San Rafael follows the comedy”he expressed.
The Hotel San Rafael, icon of the Maldonado department, was acquired by the Cipriani chain in 2018 and was demolished in May 2019.
