Big projects are apparently on the horizon for Bali’s capital city, Denpasar.
Ideas are on the table for a Denpasar Trans Studio—an indoor Indonesian amusement park and entertainment center that’s already established itself in Makassar and Bandung and more recently in Surabaya and Yogyakarta—and another luxury mall and entertainment center in Sanur.
CT Corp hopes to expand empire in Bali
Business tycoon Chairul Tanjung, founder and owner of CT Corp, an impressive group of companies that includes Trans Studio, is understood to have met with Denpasar Mayor Ida Bagus Rai Mantra about his vision for the mega-project.
The Trans Studio would be built on the centrally-located Jl. Iman Bonjol, about 500 meters north from the Sunset Road intersection, according to reports. CT Corp does already have a presence nearby the proposed Trans Studio site, as there is already a Transmart Carrefour on Sunset Road.
The meeting happened around February this year, says Denpasar Department of Investment and One Stop Integrated Service Director Kadek Kusuma Diputra.
“Mr. Chairul Tanjung had a meeting with Mr. Mayor after the city anniversary in February,” Diputra told Tribun Bali on Tuesday.
“At that time, Mr. Chairul said he would build Southeast Asia’s most advanced Trans Studio in Denpasar.”
In addition to amusement park rides and games, there would also be a 3D movie theater, says Diputra.
Construction for Trans Studio in Denpasar is supposed to begin at some point this year, however, the project doesn’t have a building permit yet and when asked about the project yesterday, three members of the regional legislative council in Denpasar claim to know nothing about it. That said, they were keen about the project as long as Trans Studio satisfies all municipal requirements, since it would be such a big potential revenue maker.
“As long as it meets the rules, Denpasar is very welcoming of investors,” Golkar party legislator AA Gung Mahendra told Tribun.
Mega mall even bigger than Trans Studio
But Trans Studio apparently isn’t even the biggest project that would pop up in Denpasar.
Investors have been making moves to set up a mall and entertainment center in Sanur, says Diputra.
“This other one is bigger. The land is six hectares. For Iman Bonjol (aka Trans Studio), that’s just 1.8 hectares,” Diputra told Tribun on Tuesday.
Diputra was reluctant to offer much more info about the development plan because things are still very much preliminary.
It’s not like there’s a shortage of malls in Denpasar. The city got Level 21, which on Jl. Teuku Umar, and Plaza Renon is soon on its way, as it’s being built near the Renon roundabout.
