BSD City’s Aeon Mall Set to Open by May

Jakarta. Next year will be a big year for Sinar Mas Land, a holding company for property businesses of Sinar Mas group, as the first Aeon mall and a large convention and exhibition center, which are currently being developed, will kickstart their commercial operations.

A source from AMSL Indonesia, a joint venture between Aeon and Sinar Mas Land , said Aeon’s first mall will be opened in BSD City, Sinar Mas Land’s signature township in Tangerang, Banten, in May next year.

Aeon is Japan’s largest shopping mall developer and operator, and Sinar Mas Land is a Singapore-listed holding company that controls Bumi Serpong Damai, a Jakarta-listed property developer that owns BSD City, a Jakarta satellite city that encompasses a total area of around 6,000 hectares.

“Construction progress has now reached 55 percent and by May next year, we expect construction to be complete and the first Aeon mall in Indonesia will be opened commercially,” said the source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

In March last year, Sinar Mas Land announced it had signed a deal with Aeon to build 20 shopping malls in Indonesia over the next eight years.

The first Aeon mall, which will be called Aeon Mall BSD, was estimated to cost $150 million to $200 million, including land and construction costs, according to Ishak Chandra, a director at Sinar Mas Land in March last year.

The source said, the mall will offer “very Japanese” features like Aeon malls in Japan, from the choice of its tenants, merchandisers to the mall designing itself.

According to plans, Aeon Mall BSD will span 125,000 square meters.

Aeon, which operates 120 malls in Japan, has announced its strategy to shift growth development into Asian markets and the group is actively pursuing consumers in China and Southeast Asia.

Indonesia has been attracting large retailers, thanks to its rising middle-income class, which is expected to continue growing.

Ikea, an international home-furnishing retailer and Courts Asia, a Singapore-based furniture and electronics retailer have opened their first outlets in Indonesia.

Also in BSD City, will be the country’s biggest convention center, called the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE), which will cover an area of 50,000 square meters of indoor space and another 50,000 square meters of outdoor space.

Sinar Mas Land has inked a deal with Dyandra Media International, a unit of the Kompas Gramedia conglomerate, to build the ICE, through the Indonesia International Expo joint venture.

IIE has signed a contract with Hannover Fairs International, a subsidiary of a leading German exhibitor Deutsche Messe, to be the official operator of the ICE.

The ICE will host a Micheal Buble concert, and is rumored to be the future host of the Indonesia International Motor Show.