Rainbow Hills is developing US$150m resort
BOGOR, West Java (JP): PT Rainbow Hills Development on Saturday started the construction of a five-star Sheraton hotel near its sport, leisure and residential resort currently being built at Citeureup, about 40 kilometers south of Jakarta.
The start of the construction was marked by the laying of a corner stone for the hotel's foundation by former vice president Sudharmono in a ceremony attended by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas and State Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tandjung.
Rainbow Hills' chief commissioner, Isa Danubrata, said the US$55 million hotel will have 320 guest rooms, including 50 mountain spa suites.
The hotel will be managed by the Boston-based ITT Sheraton Corporation, a subsidiary of ITT Corporation, a worldwide hotel and resort network managing more than 400 hotels in 61 countries.
Isa explained that the construction of the US$150 million sport, leisure and residential resort on a 450-hectare plot has been almost completed.
The resort will have a 27-hole golf course designed by J. Michael Poellot (JMP) of California, he said, adding that the master plan for the hotel and resort projects was designed by the Hubert Group (THG) of Australia and the landscape by the SWA Landscaping Group of California.
Opening
The first nine holes of the golf course will be opened later this year, while the hotel is expected to start operating in early 1996, Isa said.
Area Manager of ITT Sheraton Indonesia, Erhard Noreisch, said the Sheraton Rainbow Hills Golf Resort Hotel will be its ninth hotel in Indonesia.
ITT Sheraton currently manages hotels in Bandar Lampung (southern Sumatra), Yogyakarta, Surabaya (East Java) and the islands of Lombok and Bali. Other hotels that ITT Sheraton will manage are under construction in Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali, Solo (Central Java) and Jakarta.
Isa said Rainbow Hills, which is a subsidiary of the Mega Guna Group, will also develop 700 units of town houses and Agro Theme Park, an agricultural flora and fauna park to be equipped with leisure, research and development facilities for public and agricultural students.
The theme park will be built on a 25-hectare lot at the main entrance of the Rainbow Hills resort, he added.
Meanwhile, chairman of Mega Guna Group Muljadi Senjaya said that the group, which totally owns the Citeureup project, will finance 50 percent of the costs for its construction with its equity, while the remaining 50 percent will be financed with a loan from a syndication of five banks, including the state-owned Bank BNI, Bank Internasional Indonesia, Sake Bank, Bank Central Dagang and Bank PDFCI.(02)