Other buildings in Colombo will be leased to investors
Temple Trees, the President’s House, the Secretariat, and the Prime Minister’s official residence have all been designated for relocation from Colombo to Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and may be kept open only as a tourist attraction.
According to Urban Development Authority (UDA) Director General Prasad Ranaweera, they were looking for alternative land in the Sri Jaywardenapura-Kotte area on President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s instructions to have the administrative complex in one location.
He stated that once the location was determined, they hoped to report back to the President to develop plans for a phased shift of the buildings.
The President’s House, the Secretariat and the Temple Trees building, and the Prime Minister’s office on Flower Road are likely to be protected as tourist attractions under a proposed ‘New Colombo Heritage City Plan’.
A number of other buildings in Colombo will be re-leased to investors under the plan.
As a result, the General Post Office, the Foreign Ministry building, the Police Headquarters, the Air Force Headquarters, the Navy Headquarters, Visumpaya, Shrvasthi (former MP’s hostel), the Gafoor building, the Irrigation Department building at Jawatte Road, the Welikada Prisons and the old Defence Ministry building at Galle Face have all been identified as potential tenants.
He stated that the goal was to lease the buildings to boutique hotels where the investors could renovate the building while retaining its original identity.
Mr. Ranaweera stated that they would consider leasing the buildings for more than 30 years with tax breaks.
He added that as part of the Heritage City Plan, they hoped to build a sheltered corridor between the Gafoor building and the Port City so that people could use it.
He stated that the President had directed the UDA to carry out some of the development activities and hand them over to investors to avoid delays and issues with land acquisition.
Prasanna Ranatunga, Minister of Urban Development, told the Sunday Times that talks had begun with potential investors, including Georgians. He stated that every effort would be made to preserve the historic character of the buildings.
