RM350m boost for Danga Bay

Johor Baru's iconic development at the Danga Bay will be given another boost with a marina, an international convention centre, a boutique hotel, a budget hotel and an office block scheduled to be completed by 2011.

Announcing this yesterday, Datuk Lim Kang Hoo of Limbongan-Ekovest Management Sdn Bhd, the project manager of Danga Bay, said the company has pumped in RM350 million for this latest development which will take place mainly at the existing sites of the International Restaurants and the Bay Leaf Restaurant.

The project, once completed, is set to transform the waterfront into both a business and recreational hub.

He said the marina development could provide berthing facility for about 250 yachts, making it the largest marina in Johor and the nearest to the Johor Baru city centre.

Boasting strategic location and competitive pricing, this development, scheduled for completion by middle of next year, is set to become a new spot for international sailing boats.
It will stretch for 500 metres along the seafront.

"Level One of the existing double-storey International Restaurants will be transformed into a Marina Club with a bistro. Level Two and a piece of land just beside the building will be the site of a 60-room boutique hotel offering lifestyle accommodation for tourists with a taste for class.

"This seafront boutique hotel is the first of its kind in the south. It will be ready in two years.

"To make Johor Baru a convention hub in the south, we are transforming the existing Bay Leaf Restaurant into a three-hall Bay Leaf International Convention and Exhibition Centre with a capacity for 3,600 people.

"Also to be featured at the convention centre are meeting rooms, seminar rooms, VIP rooms and a mini-theatre. It is expected to be ready by next January," he said.

Another project coming up at Danga Bay is a 120-room Tune Hotel, a budget hotel, which will be built next to the existing Danga Bay sales office.

Following land acquisition as a result of coastal road construction, a multi-storey car park with a capacity for 1,000 vehicles will be built at the existing Celebration Square. An office block to house Danga Bay Sdn Bhd's corporate office will also be built in the vicinity.

Danga Bay is a Johor privatisation project involving the state government's development arm Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor which is the landowner, and the developer Danga Bay Sdn Bhd.

It is jointly managed by Ekovest and Pembinaan Limbongan Setia Bhd.

To be developed in phases over 15 years, the massive project covers over 562ha of waterfront land at the estuary of three rivers - Sungai Danga, Sungai Skudai and Sungai Melayu.

By Business Times (by Sim Bak Heng)