KG Global bets on Jakarta's luxury apartment demand

Jakarta

ABOUT 18 months ago, just as work got started on their 250,000 square-metre Mangkuluhur office and residential complex in central Jakarta, Petter Hendrady sat down with his father Harry Gunawan to decide when to start marketing out space.

High on the agenda was the question of when to begin sales of 87 ultra high-end apartments perched on top of the upcoming Regent Hotel. Their developer, KG Global Development, reckons they will be "masterpieces". Some would be decked out with a 10-metre pool, two private lifts, and will span up to 1,000 sq m.

The market was less emphatic. Property values for luxury digs were half what they might be for similar offerings in Singapore. Twice more, since that first meeting, the men decided to hold back, betting that to start selling the luxury flats now would be akin to leaving money on the table. High interest rates and r…