H1 retail growth slower
H1 retail growth slower
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite a sharp increase in the amount of square meters now
available, the retail property market in Greater Jakarta showed
slow growth during the first semester of 2005.
Property consultant company PT Procon Indah director Lini
Djafar said there were over 50,000 square meters (sqm) of
additional retail spaces in Greater Jakarta from January to June.
She said most of the spaces were located in Jakarta and the
rest in the capital's outskirts of Depok, Bogor, Tangerang and
Bekasi.
The company's Jakarta Quarterly Property Market Review, issued
on Thursday, showed that new retail properties in the capital
came from Plaza Senayan Arcadia, an extension of Plaza Senayan in
Central Jakarta, which provided 5,500 sqm.
Tangerang, which has the most rapidly growing retail outlets,
has two new strata-titled retail centers -- Plaza Sinar Merdeka
and International Trade Center (ITC) in Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD)
-- adding some 45,000 sqm of retail space in the area.
Lini said that leasing transactions during the first six
months were relatively low with a limited number of retailers
opening new outlets.
"Transactions during the period came mainly from major
retailers with large space requirements such as Index (furniture
shop) at Mal Artha Gading in North Jakarta, Carrefour in ITC BSD,
and The Sands Executive Club at Mangga Dua Square in West
Jakarta, which respectively had taken up more than 5,000 sqm of
retail space," she said.
The overall occupancy rate of retail property in Greater
Jakarta as of the end of June stood at 81.8 percent of the 2.62
million sqm available, leaving 477,900 sqm physically vacant.
Those figures resulted from a 1.05 percent increase in Jakarta
and a 2 percent decrease on the outskirts.
"The occupancy level of retail market in Jakarta's outskirts
decreased mainly because the completion of several new strata-
titled centers which now have a low physical occupancy level,"
Lini explained.
The company's report also showed that average rental fees and
service charges were relatively stable at US$26.4 per sqm per
month as landlords postponed their plans to hike the fees due to
tougher competition in the market.
Lini said the slow growth, however, should not necessarily
mean negative growth in the future.
"Future availability of retail space in Greater Jakarta will
continue to be dominated by strata-titled trade centers and the
completion of these projects is likely to increase vacancy during
the course of the year," she said.
The company projected an addition of 1.58 million sqm between
the second semester of 2005 and early 2007. (006)