After the opening of the Tanjung Priok harbor and fueled by the increasing rubber output in the late 19th century, Batavia was able to regain its commercial momentum. There had been attempts to restore the city's old downtown prominence by converting the desolated area into the main business district of Batavia. As a result, the former mansions and shops that at the time had been occupied by ethnic Chinese people, were converted and renovated into offices in the period 1900–1942. Many of these offices can still be seen today around Kali Besar. The development of the business district was hampered by the 1930 Great Depression and the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in 1942.