Mon, 19 May 1997

Kuningan new tower topped off

JAKARTA (JP): A new tower building in Kuningan, South Jakarta, is set to be completed by the end of the year, the director of PT Rajawali Adiwisma, Erwinaryo, said Friday after a topping-off ceremony.

The new building, called Menara Rajawali, is located on Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio and will be the first office space available along with Menara 2000 in Mega Kuningan, a complex inspired by Singapore's Orchard Road, Erwinaryo said.

Situated in Jakarta's Golden Triangle, where the city's three main streets -- Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Gatot Subroto and Jl. HR Rasuna Said -- meet, the 27-story Menara Rajawali's total investment is US$50 million, he said.

"We spent about US$10 million to buy the 6,163-square-meter plot," he said, adding that land prices in Mega Kuningan were considerably lower than for Jl. Sudirman. Kuningan offered good prospects for the property industry, he said.

The 50,334-square-meter building is allocating 30,950 square meters for office space, 40 percent of which will be titled for Rajawali Adiwisima's mother company, Rajawali Corporation, and its subsidiaries. Of the remaining 18,500 square meters of available office, 20 percent has already been rented, he explained.

Noting the oversupply of office space in Jakarta, the company's property marketing manager Taufik Malik said there were around 500,000 square meters of office space available in the city now, or 10 percent more than the public demand.

The Center for Indonesia Property Studies chairman, Panangian Simanungkalit, said supply could reach 234,000 square meters by the end of the year.

Taufik said most buildings in Jakarta had only between 7 percent and 10 percent vacancy rate. He said the company expected the same percentage would be enjoyed by Menara Rajawali, whose monthly rental fees are set at $16 per square meter, excluding a $7 service charge for each square meter.

Panangian said current office-space rent is between $14.50 per square meter and $15.50 for new grade A premises in central business districts.

The tower has been constructed by South Korean Samsung Corporation and Indonesian PT Duta Graha Indah.

The building is designed by Timothy Seow Group of Singapore and Indonesian Team 4. (10)