The brand is all that matters —that’s what PT Astra International is seeing in its maiden project in the property market. Despite this being baby steps on new terrain for the publicly listed conglomerate, the apartments appear to be selling like hotcakes.

Southeast Asia’s largest independent automotive group on Monday held the topping-off ceremony for its two first property projects, the Menara Astra office tower and the Andanamaya Residence building, three years after construction work began.

PT Menara Astra president director David Iman Santosa said the Anandamaya Residence, which is the first property project developed by PT Brahmayasa Bahtera — a joint venture between Astra International and Hongkong Land Group Ltd., was set to complete in the first quarter of 2018.

The building houses 509 apartments measuring 120 square-meters to 360 sq m, with six superior units of 600 sq m and penthouses of 900 sq m. About 93 percent of the units have been sold.

“We hope to sell all of the units this year,” David told a press conference during the topping-off ceremony in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the Menara Astra, a grade-A premium office building fully owned by Astra International, is scheduled for opening in June 2018. The tower of 47 floors stands 260 meters tall, joining other skyscrapers in the Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD) in South Jakarta.

The two property projects mark the seventh sector the conglomerate is active in and are an attempt to monetize its lavish land assets. The office tower, for instance, occupies 2.4 hectares of land that used to be one of Astra’s showrooms.

Astra International director Paulus Bambang said the company aimed to use its land assets around Jakarta for property development in the next 10 years to benefit from rising value.

“We believe our land in prime locations of Jakarta is just being wasted for service or sales points. Thus, we will cooperate with other developers rather than being an inactive partner,” he said.

This year, Paulus hopes to start three new residential projects to be announced soon, one of which is a joint venture between PT Astra Land Indonesia and PT Modernland Reality, namely PT Astra Modernland.

It will develop 70 hectares of land for residential properties in East Jakarta. The company has allocated Rp 4 trillion (US$300 million) in initial investment to the project, which is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2017.

As for the two maiden projects, Astra has invested a total of Rp 8 trillion, some Rp 4.5 trillion of which was allocated to the Menara Astra tower while the remainder Rp 3.5 trillion went to the Andanamaya Residence project.

Astra International now effectively runs seven business lines: automotive, financial services, heavy equipment and mining, agribusiness, infrastructure and logistics, information technology and property.

While the property sector has yet to contribute to Astra’s profit, the conglomerate is confident it will become one of the key players in Indonesian real estate. “Considering the location of our land assets and the market, we hope to have a sustainable business in Indonesia,” David said.

The move to diversify its business portfolio with property comes after Astra saw its financial performance decrease in the last three years. The company’s revenue fell by 1.2 percent to Rp 19.2 trillion in 2014 and by a further 25 percent to Rp 14.5 trillion in 2015.

In the first nine months of 2016, Astra saw a four percent drop in its revenue to Rp 132.29 trillion, while its net profit retreated by 6 percent to Rp 11.28 trillion.(ecn)

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