Wulandari Bangun Laksana Ready To Prepare The Presence Of IKN Nusantara

Photo: Doc. Wulandari Bangun Laksana

The city of Balikpapan is one of the most advanced cities in East Kalimantan (Kaltim). In this city there are several modern shopping centers (MALLs) and Trade Centers, including Plaza Balikpapan, Mall Fantasi, Mall eWalk and Mall Pentacity owned by PT Wulandari Bangun Laksana Tbk (BSBK).

According to BSBK President Director Christopher Sumasto Tjia, the existence of the Mall and Trade Center shows that BSBS as one of the property development companies in East Kalimantan has proven to be able to compete with other property development companies that existed earlier.

The recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic has madeBSBK optimistic and confident that the property sector will be the sector that is prospective with the best performance in this city. Because apart from being the provincial gateway, Balikpapan is the only city in East Kalimantan that has won the title of Decent City. Plus the function of Balikpapan City as a buffer city for the capital city of the archipelago (IKN).

Christopher said BSBK offers a variety of products and the most complete among its competitors.

"BSBK presents the Balikpapan Superblock area with the concept of One Stop Living which is able to be a benchmark for other property developers. That's because BSBK always identifies consumer needs in order to provide the best innovation," said Christopher, in his written statement, Sunday, November 13. In line with Christopher, Director of BSBK Tjia Daniel Wirawan, stated that the application of the One Stop Living concept. This means that in one area there are all public needs such as schools, shopping centers, offices, entertainment venues, residences, health facilities and hospitality.

"The Concept of One Stop Living is BSBK's main strategy. This concept has proven to be effective in making the activities of residents or visitors much more practical because the supporting facilities in the area are very complete," said Tjia.

Tjia said, the Balikpapan Superblock area always attracts the attention of the public because it does not have equal competitors. That's because BSBK always presents the latest innovations, namely tourist attractions such as beachside tourism (BSB Beach) with an area of approximately 1.8 ha.

"In that area there aremen, seafood iconic restaurants in the form of ships, korean restaurants bbq, score sports lounges, and other culinary tours, and also the presence of well-known tenants in e-Walk and Pentacity which makes the surge in mall visitors increase," he said.

According to Tjia, the presence of IKN affected BSBK's mall rental occupancy and the number of visitors. This was proven in the October 2022 period, the occupancy of leasing mall ewalk increased, from 94.53 percent to 95.89 percent of the area's nett leaseable area of 27,790.95 m2, while the occupancy of leasing malls for the October 2022 period increased, from 69.33 percent to 82.24 percent of the area of nettt leaseable area of 40,943.44 m2.

"We estimate that by the end of 2023 the e-Walk occupancy Mall will reach 100% and the Pentacy Mall will reach 96 percent with increased tenants willing to enter, but still increase the tenant ratio mix," he said.

Tjia added, the average number of visitors to the 2022 E-walk Mall per month reached 573,122, or an increase of 34.2 percent from the previous year's average per month 406,211. Meanwhile, the average number of visitors to the 2022 Pentacy mall per month was 546,110, or grew 57.2 percent from the previous year's average per month of 347,471.

As for traffic, motorized vehicles will increase in 2022 with the average number of cars every month 161,109 compared to the previous year 117,382 or an increase of 37.3 percent and for two wheels to increase in 2022 with an average monthly number of 181,617 compared to the previous year 143,480 or equivalent to 26.6 percent.

In addition, continued Tjia, hotels also experienced a fairly good increase, especially the rental of meeting rooms and hotel room bookings which automatically made room occupancy increase.

"This progress and growth makes BSBK even more convinced that Balikpapan Superblock is one of the favorite destinations for both local residents and from outside the city. We are also optimistic that BSBK will always develop and become the most superior company in East Kalimantan," concluded Tjia.