By Lynette Khoo

AMID rising office demand in Indonesia, Keppel Land is ploughing an estimated 636 billion rupiah (S$95 million) into a partial redevelopment of Barclays House complex in Jakarta's Central Business District (CBD).

The company said it hopes to unlock value from this property by redeveloping one of the two buildings in the complex, which is expected to take three years.

The existing 10-storey building - first completed in 1985 - can be redeveloped into a 40-storey tower with a maximum potential gross floor area of about 56,000 square metres (about 600,000 sq ft).

'The increased confidence in Indonesia's economy has generated an upward trend in office demand as foreign and domestic investments continue to strengthen,' said Ang Wee Gee, executive director and CEO of Keppel Land International.

Jakarta's CBD has seen a healthy net take-up since the second quarter of last year. According to a recent Jones Lang LaSalle report, the take-up level in Jakarta's CBD is projected to reach more than 200,000 sq m per annum in 2011, fuelled by strong expectations of Indonesia's growth prospects.

'Our new office tower will meet the demand of tenants seeking well-designed and sustainable buildings in Jakarta's CBD,' Mr Ang added.

Slated for completion by early 2014, the redeveloped tower at Barclays House will have larger floor plates and green features such as high-efficiency mechanical and electrical equipment, energy-saving lighting and fixtures with sensors to monitor water consumption.

Barclays House is situated strategically among five-star hotels, embassies and popular shopping centres in Jalan Sudirman. It is about four kilometres from the Monas City Centre, a famous landmark in Jakarta, and less than an hour's drive from the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Keppel Land, which has been in the Indonesian market since the 1990s, has built up a portfolio of office, residential, retail, integrated township, as well as hotel and leisure developments.

These include Jakarta Garden City, a 270-hectare integrated residential township in East Jakarta; BG Junction, a strata-titled retail complex within Surabaya's CBD; as well as Ria Bintan Golf Club, a 36-hole championship course on Bintan Island.

This article was first published in The Business Times.