Jakarta offers more choices in apartments

Jakarta offers more choices in apartments

As the ravaged rupiah starts to gradually recoup its losses
and nudge its way back to strength, the choice of apartments in
the capital, and their affordability, are now probably greater
than ever.

According to a report by property consultant First Pacific
Davies-Indonesia, apartment supply in the Central Business
District (CBD) increased during the third quarter of 1998. Among
the new additions was Tower B of Apartemen Plaza Senayan, which
came on stream offering 108 apartments for lease or service.

Total supply for the CBD is currently 9,400 apartments, with
more expected to become available by year's end. However, some
apartments owned by failed banks have stopped advertising and are
under observation by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency,
First Pacific Davies said.

There was a further reduction in rental rates and prices
during the third quarter, a trend which is expected to continue
until the end of the year.

In the CBD, rental rates for apartments average US$15 per
square meter for upper class and $8 per square meter for middle
class, compared to $23 and $15 respectively before the crisis hit
the country in July 1997.

Upper-class serviced apartments are more stable at $20 per
square meter, compared to the precrisis average of $26.

In secondary areas, rental rates for upper-class serviced
apartments fell to $9 per square meter, since most of the
apartments provided a fixed rupiah-dollar exchange rate of 7,500
and discounts of up to 40 percent. This compares to $22 before
the crisis and $14 during the second quarter of this year.

The property consultant noted that some tenants in serviced
apartments in secondary areas have moved to the CBD because their
dollar budget is now within the falling rental rates.

Although occupancy rates of leased and serviced apartments
remained in a downward mode, there was a 3 percent incremental
increase for the latter in the third quarter.

Apartmen Plaza Senayan is just one of the many diverse types
of apartments available which can satisfy even the most finicky
of prospective buyers or renters.

Apartmen Plaza Senayan boasts its convenient location, huge
parking area, sports facilities and the Plaza Senayan shopping
mall on its doorstep.

Also ideally located in the heart of the CBD is Kempinski
Hotel Plaza, its site straddling the strategic areas of Jl.
Sudirman and Kuningan. Its unique attraction is apartment living
with the services offered by the five-star Kempinski Hotel in the
same tower.

Apartmen Golf Pondok Indah is a golf lover's paradise,
situated in the exclusive Jakarta suburb of the same name and
just a stone's throw from superb links. It is within easy reach
of shopping centers and connecting roads to downtown Jakarta.

Looking for something a little off the beaten track of traffic
jams and crowded communities but only minutes away from the
city's heartbeat?

Country Woods Estates in Bintaro, South Jakarta, is pleasant,
tranquil living in a self-contained and secure community. It is
within easy access of major thoroughfares but far enough away
that residents feel they have discovered a refuge from the toil
of city life.

Outside of Jakarta, one of the most respected properties is
the Graha Residen in Surabaya, with full service facilities in
the center of the country's second largest city.