Resort project not affected by turmoil

Claudia Sardi, The Jakarta Post, Pecatu | Thu, 02/12/2009 2:33 PM  |  Bali 

A Rp 3 trillion development on Pecatu Hill in Jimbaran in southern Bali is showing no signs yet of being affected by the global financial crisis, with developer PT Bali Pecatu Graha (BPG) selling 124.5 hectares of land to investors for an ambitious new property project. 

The Pecatu Indah Resort project will eventually comprise exclusive residences, international-standard hospitals and schools, shopping malls, a 15,000-person capacity convention center, and recreation places, including theme and water parks. 

"None of the investors has pulled out of the contract so far, and we just signed a new contract with Condotel last October," said Arturo Seril, BPG project manager. 

"The project is scheduled for completion in 2020. I'm still very optimistic that we can finish it without more major incidents." 

BPG had prepared the master plan for the project in 1998, but due to the Indonesian economic crisis and the two terrorist bombings on the island, the company only began rolling out the project in early 2006. 

The New Kuta Golf Course, which opened its doors in 2007, is the first completed project on the site. 

It will play host to the Indonesia Open tournament this February, and plans to house its guests at the partially finished New Kuta Condotel, operated by Best Western. Once complete, the resort will include at least five luxury hotels. 

Both the Westin and Raffles hotels have bought land here and will begin construction soon; tea giant PT Sosro has also invested and plans to branch out into the hotel sector with its first property in Pecatu. 

Another developer, PT Panorama Development Utama (PMA), has almost finished work on a 21-villa complex called Hole 17, set in the middle of the golf course. 

"Pecatu Indah Resort will be something unique on the island, nothing like Nusa Dua, which only has standalone hotels. We are going to provide a huge range of facilities in one single area, which makes it very attractive", Seril said. 

BPG, owned by Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, retains control of all 400 hectares of the land for the Pecatu Indah Resort. The firm is planning its own projects in the area including the Klapa, a four-story complex consisting of a restaurant, spa, beachfront disco and bars, currently under construction on a cliff overlooking the beach.