Metropolitan Land

Property

MARKET CAP: RP 2.77 TN

NET PROFIT: RP 551 BN

When Metropolitan Land (Metland) completed the construction of Bekasi’s first shopping center, the Metropolitan Mall, 24 years ago, the company’s management soon found out that leasing out the premise looked to be next to impossible. While the mall was strategically located near the toll road connecting the city with Jakarta, potential lessors were turned off by the fact that the number of commuters using it – their prime target market – was abysmally low. Today, however, business at the mall is brisk as the ever-crowded toll road entices commuters – and the city’s growing population – to come to the mall as a way to take time off the heavy traffic.

“That’s what vision is all about, we see beyond the potential it holds in the future,” says Thomas Johannes Angfendy, 58, president director of PT Metropolitan Land. Prior to taking over the leadership of the company in 2016, he was Director of Operations since 2004. Unlike most leaders of developers, Thomas’ background is accounting instead of engineering. “What’s important is that we are willing to learn and are ready to seize opportunities, and prove to ourselves that we have passed the test,” said Thomas.

Established in 1994, Metland was able to survive the 1997 Southeast Asian economic crisis. This makes Thomas confident that the company will continue to grow and thrive in the future. Presently, Metland has 18 projects in total: seven residentials, two apartments, one office tower, three shopping malls, and five hotels. As Metland prioritizes the prospective middle to lower class market, its projects follow the growth of industries around the outskirts of Jakarta: west in Tangerang, Banten and in the east spanning the industrial areas of Bekasi, Cileungsi, Tambun, and Cibitung.