When the city of Batavia was confident to absorb new supply of middle-class housing – as well as to prevent further illegal kampung development from encroaching onto this area – the city decided to purchase the Menteng land and created the technical commission to oversee its development. De Bouwploeg was established to acquire a plot of land in Menteng and another 73 hectare of land from the Gondangdia private estate. The land in Gondangdia private estate was bought by Bouw- en Cultuur Maatschappij Gondangdia from a Dutch widow J.V.D. Bergh in 1892, which at that time inhabited by 3,052 peasants.