Introduction:
Nestled within the heart of Jakarta, my planned new apartment at Mahata Tanjung Barat beckons as a canvas for my urban living. In this review, I aim to shed light on the various facets that define my living experience, providing an unbiased perspective on the comforts, amenities, and considerations that come with this new abode.
I purchased the apartment back in 2019, but because of COVID that substantially stalled the development the unit was handed over to me late December 2023.
There were some minor defects found back at unit hand over (22 December 2023) that’s yet to be fixed even today (UPDATE: 1 March 2024 There are zero active updates from the management regarding the progress.). I do wish after the lengthened unit hand over delay they could at least expedite fixing the defects. The defects were a loose water connection, some dead electrical outlets, an outlet with reversed polarity, an ungrounded one, and a speck of blue paint on my supposedly white painted wall.
My plan is to move there sometime in March 2024. (UPDATE: Now we’re at March as the promised time I can start to inhabit my unit and the building management is completely silent)
Below are the things I reviewed sorted to what I thought are more important. As I haven’t moved there yet some sections are currently empty. I’ll fill them when I move in and update as much as I can when anything are changed.
Location:
In terms of location, Mahata Tanjung Barat wins a lot as an apartment building, it’s literally built at the side of a train station (Stasiun Tanjung Barat). Though whether you’ll enjoy Jakarta Commuter Line or not is another matter, most people whom in the target market of Mahata Tanjung Barat might hate it though as Commuter Line trains can be hellishly crowded.
The apartment building is right across the road from AEON Tanjung Barat mall with planned direct access to said mall. If you don’t like AEON you can go to the rather near Pejaten Mall you can reach with Transjakarta, or to the slightly further Kemang Village Mall. But you’ll need a private car to go there easily.
Hospitals are also near. The RSUD Pasar Minggu is probably not more than 5 minutes away without traffic. But consider it to be 15-40 minutes for daytime traffic to be safe if you’re in an emergency. The Siloam Hospital I usually go for my personal health is a bit further, maybe around 1 hour for a safe estimate.
Location safety looks to be good. Like all apartments there is 24 hour security. The Lenteng Agung area were infamous for motor gangs in the past but I haven’t heard any problems involving them for the several years already.
As it’s almost directly above a train station, noise levels might be dubious. Although from what I felt and hear at the unit when I visited the unit they are almost nonexistent. I’ll update this after I moved in to my unit, including night time noise level ambience.
Layout and Design:
I bought a 2 bedroom unit of 46 sqm gross area. Not much but enough for me as I already have a landed home in Jakarta. You’ll need to think this through if you plan to live with a family and not already have a landed home.
I’ll upload the layout of my unit later, but in general you’ll need to be really creative as anything other the main bedroom are tight.
Storage space is nonexistent. Some places have storage spaces for rent, but neither Mahata Tanjung Barat provide one nor having a near enough one in the vicinity.
Natural light is great for my unit, ventilation is also good though I’d highly recommend you to only open doors and windows when necessary in Jakarta because of the dust and pollution.
Quality of electrical fixtures and finishes:
They are cheap. You’ll be better to replace them with a better ones (I replaced my switches & outlets with ones from Panasonic, but you can use any brand of your choosing and most likely it’ll be better than the default)
The MCB block only contains regular MCBs, so be very careful if you want to use an electric water heater or any electric appliances including those you normally take the safety for granted like electric iron & hair dryer as they would be dangerous.
Normally you can change the MCBs with better ones including protection using ELCB or RCBO, but I was told that MCB changing is forbidden. This means the management would be liable to electric shock related accidents.
Condition of the Property:
Cleanliness and maintenance of common areas. I’ll update this after I moved in, but generally apartments of the same price point in Jakarta are clean with good maintenance.
The exterior door and window frames look to be very solid and provide a very good noise isolation from outside.
The tile quality of the default bathroom tiles is more suitable for an apartment with half the price. I still don’t know if I’m allowed to revamp it, consider as a no but will update if proven otherwise.
Amenities:
They have a Gym, or promised to have one. I’ll update when it exist including the costs.
There’s a kids pool or at least planned to.
Laundry is promised to be there, but there are tons of laundromats nearby. I personally use Apique not far from the apartment, maybe I’ll review them separately.
I’ll update about Condition and cleanliness of shared spaces (lobby, elevators, hallways) later on after I moved in.
Lease Terms and Rent:
I leased the place using a government owned bank. For me the rate is fair enough but you’ll get better rates from private banks.
Management and Maintenance:
At the moment they can only be contacted by email (samesta.mtb@gmail.com) with no phone or whatsapp available yet.
They are responsive enough, replying my emails within 24 working hours.
I will update details regarding the following after I move in
- Effectiveness of the property management.
- Speed and efficiency of maintenance requests.
Neighborhood and Community:
I don’t know yet about the community atmosphere and resident demographics. But from the looks of it mostly will be Indonesian students and office workers.
Local green space is represented with a small park. But the place is near Ragunan Zoo, and that’s a huge park. I hope they’ll provide bicycle parking space so I can use mine.
Utilities and Services:
I’ll update on the reliability of utilities (electricity, water, internet), but from the hand over the conditions are
- My unit got 220V 2200W power, or supposedly to. After testing with a multimeter, voltage is rather far below 220V (floating between 180V to 190V). You must use a stabilizer if you don’t want your expensive appliances to be damaged or have shortened lifespans. Management wrote that I can buy my own stabilizer, will update after I installed one. FYI, a good stabilizer unit is around 300USD-400USD (Rp. 4.000.000.- to Rp. 5.000.000.-) so you’ll need to prepare. I’ll add my preparation expenditures in this review later.
- Water should be OK as long as you don’t drink it without boiling it first. I haven’t tested the sample in a lab, but I’ll update when I have the time to do the test and found the impossible.
- Internet is not yet available. Cell signal reception is nonexistent in my unit so I hope the service is ready for use sooner than later.
Trash disposal is available, but for environmentally conscious people out there, no Jakarta don’t currently have a reliable recycling facility.
I’ll update about the quality of mail and package delivery services nearby.
Parking and Transportation:
The salesperson back in 2019 promised parking space, but I’ll update this later. The property tagline is Apartemen Sultan Millenial, so I think it’ll be highly unwise and a blatant deception not to have adequate parking space as no millennial that can afford living in this apartment without at least one car.
Promise of parking availability is also one of the main factors for me choosing this place, so a huge disappointment will come if it’s proven otherwise.
As mentioned above, the proximity to public transportation options is also good not withstanding whether you like to use them or not (I love using Jakarta MRT but dreadfully hate the Commuter Line).
There are some road projects nearby so traffic is not so good. But compared with other places in Jakarta, traffic near the apartment can be considered good. It’s also near the JORR entry & exit.
Pets and Pet Policies:
I was told by the salesperson that the apartment would have pet-friendly policy, but at hand over I was told that all kind of pets are forbidden. I like pets, this isn’t a problem for me again because I already have a landed house in Jakarta but you, especially students need to consider this if you already have a pet. Better find another place than losing your pet.
Still related to pets, as commonly known that places in Indonesia that don’t have cats but want to have a rat free environment will need to use rat poison or some sort as pest control. I’m pretty sure they will and update if otherwise, but please be careful if you have children under 5 years old as powdered rat and cockroach poison may need to be put in the shared spaces.
I will put the costs I expended for moving in below alongside my personal verdict of who Apartemen Mahata Tanjung Barat are suitable for.
Cheers.
A
Indonesian version will be put in a separate post.
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