Onetime office building adopts the mall trend

Narada Krisnaputra, Contributor, Jakarta

Times change, and so do tastes in retail therapy. One of South Jakarta's most venerable office buildings has undergone a major revamping to offer a great escape for local residents and office workers.

It's Monday, and your boss has not shown up at the office. The naughtiest thing to come to a badass subordinate's mind might be calling some buddies to set up a lazy lunch in a favorite restaurant, only later to return to their cubicles, stuffed and socially recharged.

But bosses in the Kuningan business area, South Jakarta, beware. The extended lunch will soon be passe -- replaced by pool playing or watching the latest flick from Hollywood.

The hottest high-noon escapade among employees in that area is made possible by the opening of a cineplex from the 21 chain at the Setiabudi Building 1, known simply as Setiabudi One.

Even better, as of August, the management has decided to turn the four-story office building into a mini entertainment center.

"The office space supply around Kuningan area is saturated, it's time to provide employees with relaxation and leisure facilities, something that the area lacks," said Ryan Adrian, general manager of the marketing division for PT Jakarta Setiabudi International Tbk. which manages Setiabudi Buildings 1, 2 and 3.

His comment about the difficulty of finding an entertainment center in the city may be a bit hard to take, but one must admit that installing a cineplex -- soon to be followed by a gym, pool and a club -- in a 30-year-old office building was one smart business move.

Setiabudi One was among the first office buildings established along Jl. HR. Rasuna Said, Kuningan. "It was so hip that the building was used for location shooting of many local movies in the '70s," Adrian said.

As time passed, the building's famous red brick walls continued to attract many tenants, including several restaurants and coffee shops on the ground floor of the building, due to its prime location.

But more modern, enticing buildings also came on the market in recent years.

Segmentation was at the top of the management's mind when deciding to convert the entire office building into an amusement center, with specialized products or menus for employees of local office buildings.

For junk-food lovers, the decision hurt, but judging from a visit on one Tuesday afternoon, it seems to be working at this early stage. At lunch hour, most eateries in the building are patronized by employees looking for a place to get a meal and unwind before the clock strikes the dreaded 1 p.m.

The choices are plenty, ranging from a teppanyaki station, Thai cuisine, Chinese food, a European style eatery to decent Indonesian home cooking and a hot dog chain, all serving huge but somewhat pricey dishes.

"I come here for lunch only after I get my paycheck at the end of the month, otherwise the food prices are just too expensive," said Rika, a teller who works at a nearby office building.

By late afternoon, it's obvious that the new cineplex -- with no teenagers in sight -- has attracted people from outside Kuningan area to catch the latest flick.

Roaming through the establishments in the newly renovated building is even nicer after office hours. The absence of clothing shops and kiddie-related stores -- aka junk-food restaurants and playground -- make Setiabudi One scream-free and a more intimate setting.

The CD store, salad and ice-cream parlor, drugstore or even a modern-minimalist barbershop that guarantees to finish a trim within 10 minutes make good neighbors.

And thanks to the functional architectural designs, each floor of the building now has long but not-so-wide aisles that serve as corridors to separate tenants.

They are categorized accordingly: The ground floor is for informal-style restaurants; friendly and casual eateries as well as a drugstore and CD store are on the first floor, and the rest is the domain of the movie theater, pool hall, gym and club.

Although located in a business area, Ryan denied the prediction the new entertainment center would only be alive on workdays.

"For some people, dining out is now a form relaxation. What could be a better idea than coming to an exclusive restaurant with your spouse, having an intimate dinner and lounging the night away in a secluded establishment where parking is no hassle?"

He added that as long as the quality of tenants was good, even people from residential areas far from Kuningan would not mind making the trip.

The Sept. 9 Australian Embassy bombing, only 200 meters away, caused what he termed a "hiccup" in the plans for the one-month- old entertainment center.

"Some windows of tenants were broken, and that's all. We closed for two days but after that, it's business as usual. What's over is over and people started coming here again."

Next December will be the place's grand launching, marked by the opening of a club on the top floor, giving more options for local employees to unwind and escape from the mounting work back at the office.

"And we are now building a more spacious parking lot, coming up is a new apartment compound and when business gets better, there'll be a new hotel at the exact location of Setiabudi Building 2."

If only they knew -- bigger is often not beautiful.