Luxury apartment business more promising

JAKARTA (JP): A foreign executive in the hospitality business from Singapore said that the future of the luxury apartment business in Jakarta is more promising than ever.

"We did very extensive research before starting to build such apartments here and believe that this country's economic growth rate will create the market," said Annabella Wisniewski, the Director of the Hospitality Division of Scotts Holding Limited, yesterday

Scotts Holding Limited with two other companies, the ASEAN Strategic Capital Limited, a Singapore investment company and PT Menara Duta of the Tigaraksa Group, have established a joint venture company, PT Bumi Perkasa Andhika, to build The Ascott Jakarta, a posh apartment tower near Hotel Wisata on Jl. Kebon Kacang, Central Jakarta.

The Ascott Jakarta apartment project, which is designed to have 198 units of serviced apartments and 78 condominiums, is scheduled to be completed next February.

Annabella said the company was aware that the occupancy rate of luxuriously serviced apartments in Jakarta is quite high.

"We have set a new standard of a serviced apartments all over the world. We build a home for the tenants and serve them with facilities and services of a five-star hotel," Wisniewski said.

She said that in order to help the tenants, especially the foreign expatriates, adapt to their new city, the company will employ what it calls guest officers.

"They will inform foreign tenants where to shop and where to find schools for their children," Wisniewski said.

Wisniewski said that one of the many advantages offered by the Ascott is the free breakfast served everyday downstairs.

Wadia Parkash, the General Manager of The Ascott Jakarta, said that the company will not charge the tenants for electricity or water.

The rent prices of the units range from US$2,900 to $16,000 per month while the prices of the condos range from $2,200 per square meter to $2,650 per square meter.

Parkash said that The Ascott Jakarta has invested almost $95 million in the project.

The shares of Ascott Jakarta are 52.5 percent owned by PT Menara Duta, 28.5 percent by the Scotts Holdings Ltd. and 19 percent by ASEAN Strategic Capital Limited.

The architecture of the apartment was designed by the Australian born Kerry Hill and the interior design is being handled by Hirsch-Bedner, a Singaporean-based international design firm specializing in hospitality projects. (mas)