Sinarmas Land to invest at least 4 trillion rupiah in Batam project

SINGAPORE-LISTED Sinarmas Land has unveiled its development plans for Nuvasa Bay, its first development project that integrates an exclusive residential area with a full suite of resort facilities surrounded by an 18-hole international golf course along a 1.2km-long beachfront.

The group plans to invest a minimum of four trillion rupiah (S$400 million) over the next five years to develop Nuvasa Bay and to market the project in the third or fourth quarter of 2016.

"Our target audiences are Batam's upper middle class residents and Singaporeans," said Ishak Chandra, Sinarmas Land CEO for strategic development and services. "The group seeks to unlock the potential of its Batam land bank through the Nuvasa Bay development project."

The 228-hectare project lies on the beachfront of Nongsa, Batam, the largest city in the Riau Islands province of Indonesia. This is also Batam's first luxury integrated residential and mixed-use development, according to the Indonesian developer.

Sinarmas Land said the project will consist of a high-end residential development with modern houses or townhouses, floating water bungalows, villas, condominiums, a 1.2-hectare man-made lagoon within the residential enclave, senior living apartments, premium serviced apartments, commercial and retail outlets, an entertainment area and a wide range of hotels and condotels.

Nuvasa Bay will also feature resort facilities such as golf course, beach bar and pool, floating water theme park, hiking track, shooting range and forest survival science centre.

The project will cater to residents of Batam and Indonesia as well as expatriates, Mr Chandra said. "In addition, Nuvasa Bay's investment merits will attract potential property investors who want to participate in Batam's high GDP growth over 12 per cent yearly, which is higher than the country's national average."

Nuvasa Bay is a 30-minute ferry ride from Singapore and a 15-minute drive from Batam's Hang Nadim airport.

The Batam government has plans to build a new outer ring road and link bridge development to improve the accessibility of Nuvasa Bay.

"Competitive land prices, property prices escalation, good infrastructure development and population growth form the fundamental investment thesis for Sinarmas Land to invest extensively in Batam," Mr Chandra said.

Sinarmas Land has two other projects in Batam, namely, Taman Duta Mas in Batam Centre and the Palm Springs Golf & Country Club.

The latter, together with its 228 hectares of land, is owned by PT AFP Dwi Lestari, a subsidiary of AFP Land Limited, which is in turn a wholly-owned unit of Sinarmas Land. AFP Land Limited also owns Palm Resort Golf & Country Club and Le Grandeur Palm Resort in Johor, as well as Orchard Towers in Singapore.