Jakarta's CBD sees higher occupancy rates

Jakarta's CBD sees higher occupancy rates

JAKARTA (JP): The occupancy rate of office buildings in
Jakarta's Central Business District (CBD) rose to 78 percent at
the end of August from 73 percent at the start of the year,
international property services company Koll IPAC said on Friday.

The recovery in the office property market in the "Golden
Triangle" began in the second semester, with total net take-up
between January and August amounting to more than 140,000 square
meters, Koll IPAC said in its latest newsletter.

That leaves 655,000 square meters of vacant space in the area
as of the end of last month, it said.

The majority of the new demand for office space came from
companies active in the e-commerce, telecommunications, consumer
banking and insurance sectors, it said.

The CBD, the prime site for office buildings in the capital,
is delineated by Jl. Thamrin to Jl. Sudirman to the west, Jl.
Gatot Subroto to the South and Jl. Rasuna Said to the east.
Property analysts include buildings in Mega Kuningan and Jl. Imam
Bonjol as part of the CBD.

Rental offices in the CBD total approximately 2.9 million
square meters of gross area.

As of the end of August, 22 buildings in the area with total
semigross area of 370,000 square meters were close to full
occupancy, the report said.

Buildings in the Mega Kuningan area had the highest average
occupancy rate at 90 percent, followed by buildings on the Jl.
Imam Bonjol and Jl. Sudirman areas with 81 percent and 79 percent
respectively, while those on Jl. Gatot Subroto and Jl. Rasuna
Said had an average occupancy rate of 77 percent.

Buildings in the Jl. Thamrin area had the highest average
vacancy rate at 26 percent.

Koll IPAC said the rental rates of buildings in the CBD on
average remained the same or increased slightly due to the high
occupancy rates.

Some buildings were able to maintain high occupancy rates
because of their willingness to be flexible in negotiating lease
terms, for example allowing monthly payments for one-year
contracts and applying fixed exchange rates, the report says.

Office buildings in the Jl. Sudirman area had the highest
average quoted base rents at Rp 80,000/sqm/month, and the lowest
were offered by buildings in the Jl. Gatot Subroto area,
averaging Rp 52,000/sqm/month.

More than 52 percent of office buildings set their rents using
the rupiah's actual exchange rate, and 28 percent use a fixed
exchange rate. The remaining 20 percent charge in dollars.

Most developers recently increased service charges and
overtime charges due to the increase in fuel and electricity
rates. The highest service charges were seen in buildings on Jl.
Sudirman, averaging Rp 38,000/sqm/month. Office buildings in the
Mega Kuningan had an average service charge of Rp
29,000/sqm/month. (02)