Jakarta. The Crown Group, a Sydney-based property developer, has joined forces with Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, a public company controlled by the Jakarta provincial government, to develop a Rp 7 trillion ($500 million) waterfront apartment complex in North Jakarta.
The Crown Group was founded by Indonesian-born Iwan Suwito and Paul Sathio in 1994. The company has had a presence in Indonesia since 2013 as part of plans to expand to several parts of the archipelago.
The waterfront apartment complex is the Crown Group’s first project in Indonesia, with 51 percent of the project set to be controlled by the Australian firm and the remainder by Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, which is engaged in developing and operating recreational complexes and resorts.
The new residential project will be built on a 4.7-hectare area located to the west of the Ancol recreational park in North Jakarta. It will be 2 kilometers from the beach and consist of five apartment towers with up to 3,000 residential units.
The residential area will also feature a retail area, restaurants, an entertainment center, co-working space and yacht club.
It will be serviced by the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit system, which will dramatically cut traveling times. The 14.6-kilometer second phase of the MRT will connect Ancol and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, with trains expected to cover the distance in 30 minutes, compared with the usual two hours by car during rush-hour traffic.
The Crown Group plans to start marketing the apartments in November next year, while gradually completing the complex in stages over the next five to seven years.
The first phase of the project is set to feature up to 250 premium beachfront units, allowing residents to live very near the ocean.
According to Crown Group chief executive Iwan Sunito, the apartments will be priced similarly to others in the area, which currently sell for between Rp 30 million and Rp 35 million per square meter.
Iwan said the complex is aimed at the growing number of upper- and middle-income buyers, most of whom are young professionals looking for a simple and convenient lifestyle, as well as families who want holiday homes near the beach.
“We focus on apartments because it is the current global trend as more people want convenience. Indonesia is following that trend as many of Indonesia’s younger generation also want the same convenience,” Iwan told the media.
“The country is also predicted to have one of the largest economies in the next few years. With the current government’s continuous policies to ease investment, we’re pretty confident to see a larger young upper and middle class,” he added.
The Crown Group is famous for developing several landmark apartment projects in Melbourne and Sydney. The company previously launched Eastlakes Live, a Rp 10 trillion residential development near Bondi Beach in Sydney.
The 534-unit apartment complex is aimed at Indonesian expats, students and families relocating to Australia.
The Crown Group will also develop two other projects in the greater Jakarta area. One will be in the Kuningan central business district in South Jakarta and the other in the Alam Sutera township in Tangerang, Banten.
The company plans to invest a total of Rp 23.3 trillion in Australia, Indonesia and the United States over the next two years.
