Forget the land and live by the sea
Forget the land and live by the sea
By I. Christianto
JAKARTA (JP): Park your car in the front porch and your boat
in the back yard. Are you out of your mind?
No. Not if you are flushed with cash, as you can be one of the
proud owners of a property in the waterfront area.
There are indications that demand for waterfront properties
are increasing, according to two major property developers who
deal with marina projects in North Jakarta.
"Despite the ongoing monetary and political crisis, the demand
for properties at our waterfront project is very good," said
Mudjianto, PT Dharmala Intiland's general manager for marketing.
Dharmala is developing Pantai Mutiara, a waterfront
residential area in Muara Karang, Pluit, under its subsidiary PT
Taman Harapan Indah.
When completed, Pantai Mutiara will include houses (including
townhouses), apartments, a sport club, a club house and a
commercial area.
Dharmala's general manager for planning and monitoring Chandra
M. Makmoen said Pantai Mutiara covered some 100 hectares of land
area. He said it would be some 150 hectares including the waters.
"The project began in 1989 with swamp reclamation. The
reclamation of 39 hectares of the area was completed in 1998," he
said, adding that the reclamation project involved Obayashi of
Japan.
"We are now constructing the apartment complex which will
include four 24-story towers. The first two towers are scheduled
for completion in late next year, while the remaining, the
following year," he said.
According to Mudjianto, marketing for both of the apartment
units and the housing complex has been launched and the response
so far has been good.
Mudjianto said the demand for properties here remained high
although the land price has increased 10 times. "It was about Rp
700,000 per square meter in 1991. Now it cost Rp 7 million per
square meter."
He said the plot sizes range between 200 square meters and
2,000 square meters.
"Out of some 800 units, about 98 percent has been sold out.
The sizes of the remaining plots are between 600 square meters
and 2,000 square meters," he said.
Ancol
PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, which is developing Puri Marina,
has also received favorable response for its waterfront
properties.
"The demand is high. It's beyond our expectation. So far 90
percent has been sold," said promotion manager Maruli Sitorus.
He said the landed houses at Puri Marina was located in a 60-
hectare plot, consisting of 68 lots.
"The lots are 250, 350, 700 and 1,000 square meters in size.
They cost Rp 3.5 million per square meter," he said.
He said there were generally two types of property buyers;
those who wanted to live in the property and those who wanted to
use it as an investment.
"At Puri Marina, buyers are required to construct their houses
within three years. The houses are to be designed in the
Mediterranean style," he said.
The townhouses was launched early this month and have received
a good response, he said.
"A total of 36 units in the first phase has been sold out. We
will offer 55 units and 70 units in the second and third phases
by June and early next year, respectively," he said.
There are three models of townhouses, namely Miami Beach (78.9
square meters/ Rp 600 million), Casa California (134.97 square
meters/ Rp 800 million) and Latino Grande (83.59 square-meters/
Rp 1.3 billion).
PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, which is part of the Si Pengembang
Group, focuses on recreational, resort and property development.
Compared to Pantai Mutiara, Puri Marina's advantage is that it
is exclusive and not too big an area.
About 80 percent of the lots sold here has already been
developed by the owners, said Maruli.
Buyers
Interestingly, both Pantai Mutiara and Puri Marina handle
their own marketing and promotional programs, instead of
assigning them to property consultants.
Executives of two leading property consultants, Procon
Indah/Jones Lang Lasalle and Collier Jardine, admitted that
following the financial turmoil in Indonesia, the property market
had become sluggish and that they had not focused on marinas.
Many property consultants believe that in spite of some signs
of recovery during 2000, except for the retail sector, property
sectors will remain depressed this year.
Office building and apartment leasing are expected to remain
low due to the continuing political and economical uncertainties
in the country.
And who are the buyers?
Maruli said most of the buyers at Puri Marina were
professionals and businessmen.
"When buying property, location and accessibility are the main
considerations. Puri Marina is about 10 minutes from the airport,
10 minutes from the Mangga Dua retail center and it is close to
the seaport. These are among the important places for our target
market," he said.
Mudjianto agreed that location was important.
"It's also important to notice that waterfront housing
attracts those who are fond of the sea. But who doesn't like to
enjoy the view of the sea, to see sunrises and sunsets, or have
fresh air?" he said.
Developing a housing complex by the sea is probably not a new
idea. However, Dharmala claims that Pantai Mutiara is the first
project of its kind in Southeast Asia.
"This is a rare and unique concept. When Dharmala's founder,
Hendro (Santoso Gondokusumo) introduced the idea in the 1980's,
many people thought it was unrealistic. But the project went on.
I think it's not feasible to have such as a project nowadays as
it needs high technology and is very expensive."
The concept of living by the waterfront will help
reestablishing Indonesia as a maritime nation.