Properties of closed down banks up for auction

Properties of closed down banks up for auction

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA)
will auction this month about 25 properties formerly owned by
liquidated banks.

The properties, worth about Rp 15 billion (about US$1.8
million), include shop-houses, warehouses and residences located
in Jakarta and Bekasi, West Java. They will be auctioned by PT
Balai Lelang Indonesia (Balindo).

Balindo managing director G. Gunawan said the auction, which
will be open to the public, would be held at the Mulia Senayan
hotel on May 31.

He said prospective buyers would be given from May 25 to May
30 to check the properties on offer with the assistance of
auction officials.

"We will announce the price limits for these properties during
the open house on May 25," Gunawan said, adding that Century 21
Indonesia property brokerage company would cooperate in the
auction.

The properties include an office building formerly owned by
Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI) in Palmerah, West Jakarta,
a shop-house which formerly belonged to Bank Lautan Berlian at
Pondok Gede, East Jakarta, and a residence once owned by Bank
Subentra in Tebet, South Jakarta. The banks were part of more
than 40 banks closed by the government in 1998 after a massive
run on the institutions. IBRA then took over the banks' assets as
their shareholders could not pay their huge debts to the
government.

President of the Association of Real Estate Brokers in
Indonesia Cynthia G. Sonneville said the properties would be good
assets for investment because most of properties owned by banks
were located in strategic locations.

IBRA also has held several auctions of cars, paintings and
furniture confiscated from the closed banks.

Gunawan said that the buildings were only about 2.5 percent of
about 1,000 property assets now under the control of IBRA.

He added that Balindo guaranteed all the properties were
backed by valid certificates of ownership.(07)