Citrus Leisure announces plan to build four star resort in Kalpitiya

Citrus Leisure PLC, formerly Hotel Reefcomber PLC, has  announced that it will build a four star resort in Kalpitiya following the acquisition of 78 acres of land identified as “Santhoduwa-Kalpitiya”. The total investment in the land amounted to Rs. 122.18 million while the acquisition is the company’s second following a change in management earlier this year.

The proposed resort will comprise of 150 rooms and 28 water front villas. The 28 water front villas will be built facing a 50meter-wide waterway which cuts through the land and connects at the end to the sea. These exclusive water villas will have individual gondolas providing the occupants access to the sea. In a unique proposition, the villas will be made available to local and foreign high net worth individuals on the basis of a 99-year lease. Citrus Leisure will operate the villas as part of the hotel with the concurrence of their owners, managing and marketing them accordingly.

“Our decision to enter Kalpitiya is a strategic one that considers the area’s vast untapped potential to become a tourist hotspot. Kalpitiya is one of the zones being targeted in the government’s new vision for tourism and Citrus Leisure PLC is excited to be a flagbearer in the emergence of Destination Kalpitiya”, Chairman of Citrus Leisure PLC, Prema Cooray said.

The purchase of the “Santhoduwa-Kalpitiya” land is the company’s second major acquisition following its purchase of a 7.2 acre beach property in Waskaduwa, where construction will begin in early 2011 on a 150 roomed 4-star property.