Apartemen Pentapolis Balikpapan

The easy walk to the mall and convenience store is a plus. The building is fairly new, so it doesn’t feel too crowded. For the price, though, the construction and management fall short. Maybe there aren’t many alternatives in Balikpapan, and the developer assumes people will buy anyway. In Jakarta, this sort of low quality might be marketed as a “cheap and cheerful” apartment. It definitely doesn’t feel “premium.” On every floor, two unsold units are being used as waiting areas for cleaners and maintenance staff. They’re left open, people smoke inside, and the smell drifts down the hallway. Staff also chat over walkie-talkies, which can get noisy. There’s an elevator meant for janitors and technicians, but they often use the residents’ elevator instead. The floor’s garbage room shares a space with network and electrical equipment, and unauthorized people can get in easily. Security is poor. There are no access cards or CCTV cameras in the elevators, so anyone can reach any floor and the units. The unit doors and knobs are the cheap kind you’d see in “RSS type” housing. Parking is awful too, since there’s virtually no direct route from the parking building into the apartments. The more convenient spaces are near the lobby, but they can fill up.