Lippo to construct 70-story tower on Jl. Sudirman
JAKARTA (JP): The Lippo Group will build a 70-story building called Sudirman Asia Tower at a cost of US$160 million in the Jl. Sudirman golden triangle in South Jakarta.
PT Lippoland Development in cooperation with Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. of South Korea is scheduled to start the construction of the project by the end of this year.
A cooperation agreement for the construction of the project was signed yesterday by Roy E. Tirtadji, managing director of the Lippo Group and H.S. Chang, a representative of Hyundai at Lippo Village, Tangerang.
The signing was witnessed by Mochtar Riady, chairman of the Lippo Group, and executives of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd.
"We construct the tower, the highest in the country, in response to the projection that demand for office space will substantially increase in 1998," Roy said.
"We hope that the construction of this project can be finished in December 1998," he said, adding that the tower will be built on an 8,000 square-meter plot of land on the former site of Jakarta Hospital.
He said that Jakarta Hospital has been relocated to a plot of land belonging to the Lippo Group.
Roy also explained that the funds for the construction of the project will be provided by both Lippo and Hyundai under a 50-50 share scheme.
He further explained that the office space at the Sudirman Asia Tower will be for sale, not for rent. "It is always Lippo's principle to sell its office space, instead of renting it. This decision is taken to avoid any risks if there is any economic crisis in the market," he said.
By selling the space, we can still profit even though the amount is not as big as if the space were rented, he added.
Roy also said that the design of the building is currently being prepared by Cesar Pelli & Associates Inc., an architecture consultant from United States. The design is expected to be completed within the next two to three months.
Responding to a question on the building permit for the construction of the tower, Mochtar Riady expressed confidence that it will be no problem because the project is in line with the city administration's policy of inviting businessmen to invest in high-rise buildings to help solve the problem of land shortage.
The Sudirman Asia Tower constitutes one of Lippo Group's major building projects, which include satellite cities in Cikarang, Bukit Sentul and Karawaci.
In a related development, business tycoons Prayogo Pengestu and Sudwikatmono reportedly plan to build a "mega-tower" billed as the second highest in the world in the Kemayoran area of North Jakarta.
Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tanjung was quoted by the Republika daily as saying on Wednesday that the tower will be 450 meters in height.
Prayogo of the Barito Pacific Group and Sudwikatmono of the Indocement Tunggal Perkasa are among the owners of five large- scale companies, which will form a consortium in charge of the construction of the building.
"The building will have a height four times that of the Monas monument," the minister said, adding that the highest part of the building will be used as a telecommunications center, followed by a rotating restaurant below it and hotels, office space and business centers.
Details of the construction of the tower, including the funding, are currently being worked out, he said.
The minister said that the tower is part of the Kemayoran development plan. (31)