In the center of Tbilisi, on Agmashenebeli Avenue, the once most fashionable hotel “Vetseli” has been surrounded by a construction fence for many years.
The hotel building was built at the end of the 19th century by a wealthy entrepreneur, a descendant of the German colonist Friedrich Wetzel. After Wetzel's death, the building was bought by businessman Noe Sikharulidze, who named the hotel "Noe" after himself. In 1928, the hotel was named “Europe”, after World War II - “Rustavi”. Since the 1970s, the building has housed various government agencies.
The facade restoration of the Wetzel hotel was rehabilitated in 2011, but, as it was said then, this was not enough to preserve the building. In the same year, the Vetzel Plaza company acquired the property of 523 sq.m located on Agmashenebeli Ave. 103 pledging to renovate the building and return it to its former glory .
In 2020, the property owner received permission to reconstruct the hotel and agreed on the sketch with the architectural bureau. Vetzel Plaza LLC planned to build a new hotel mixing old and modern elements. However, construction has not yet started.
The cultural heritage monument is currently under arrest, and the company does not have the right to sell it based on a decision made many years ago.
The director of Vetzel Plaza LLC is Ina Razmadze, the owner of a 100% share is Real Invest JSC which supervisory board includes businessman Giorgi Kapanadze (Rizha), former manager of Georgian Manganese Nikoloz Chikovani and Maya Kokaya.
It’s worth mentioning that Real Invest JSC owns another cultural heritage monument on David Agmashenebeli Avenue#150 that has recently been rehabilitated and restored.
