DusitD2 Hotel owner ordered to vacate disputed Spring Valley property in Nairobi

Cape Holdings Limited, the owners of 14 Riverside DusitD2 Hotels have suffered a huge blow after the High Court ordered them to vacate another property in Nairobi’s Spring Valley.

The company, which owns the property where Dusit D2 Hotel stands, is embroiled in a bitter court fight arising from a botched commercial deal over a decade ago.

The owners of the complex situated near Chiromo campus is facing auction over a botched deal that has since risen to about Sh9billion.

In the latest dispute, High Court judge Josephine Mongare overturned her earlier ruling that had allowed Cape Holdings to access the property in Spring Valley.

But Synergy Industrial Credit moved back to court and urged Justice Mong’are to overturn the ruling and allow the status quo to be maintained.

Through senior counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, Synergy Industrial Credit the ruling contradicts another ruling delivered in November 2024 prohibiting Cape Holdings and its agents from dealing with the property.

“I agree with the arguments by the Applicant/Decree holder (Synergy Industrial Credit) that the orders of 12/12/2025 are in direct contravention of the Court’s ruling of 19/11/2024,” said the court.

The court ordered to Cape Holdings and Jaysukhlal Bhaichand Sanghrajka to vacate the said property within 24 hours from the date of these ruling.

“Failure to which the Applicant shall be at liberty to seek the assistance of the Inspector General of Police through the OCS Gigiri Police Station, to ensure the compliance of the same,” emphasised the court.

Cape Holdings and Synergy Industrial Credit Ltd have been battling in court for more than a decade over a botched deal.

Court filings indicate that the property is Spring Valley was developed while the dispute was pending in court.

The deal between Cape Holdings and Synergy Industrial Credit stems from a contract over a decade ago.

Court documents showed that Synergy Industrial Credit paid Cape Holdings Sh750 million to acquire a section of the complex.

The parties, however, fell out and the matter was referred to an arbitrator, James Ochieng Oduol who directed Cape Holdings to pay Sh1.6 billion plus interest in 2015.

The amount has since risen to more than Sh9billin according to Ahmednasir.

Synergy Industrial Credit has been seeking to sell the complex and other properties owned by Cape holdings, to recover the debt.

In the ruling on December 23, Justice Mong’are noted that the application by Cape Holdings was brought with the full knowledge of the earlier ruling.

The court said the move was an attempt to embarrass and mislead the court to issue contradictory orders in respect of the same dispute and amounts to an abuse of the Court process.

Court documents indicate Synergy Industrial Credit is owned by businessman Vishal Vipul Shah while Cape Holdings is owned by Vijay Sanghrajka and family who also own other business chains among them Tile & Carpet as well as the Dusit D2 hotel.

The property known as 14 Riverside Drive near University of Nairobi’s Chiromo Campus sits of on a 5.2 acre parcel of land and comprising of five office blocks, a five star hotel (Dusit D2) with a swimming pool, a parking silo, food court and cafeteria.

The office blocks consist of ground floor to six floors and the ground floors have banking halls, shops, while the hotel has seven floors with 101 rooms and suites.

The hotel has a bar, restaurant, library, meeting rooms and a gym and amenities including a spa, swimming pool and an open air restaurant. The parking silo can accommodate 625 vehicles with an additional 34 parking bays.

Cape Holdings has disputed claims by Synergy Industrial Credit arguing that the latter’s interest is composed of “wing A” on the ground floor, first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors and on “wing B” on the ground floor, first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors.

Through senior counsel Allen Gichuhi, Cape Holdings has maintained that part of the property was charged to I&M Bank for a loan of Sh2.82billion.

He argued that Synergy Industrial Credit cannot claim the entire property.