Sri Tanjung Pinang, Penang’s biggest seafront development

Transformed over the years from a laidback tranquil island into a city dotted with ever-increasing high-rise condos, Penang is set for yet another transformation. A nearly 40-ha integrated seafront development project to the north-east could well turn out to be the island’s new pulse when completed, its promoters say.

Sri Tanjung Pinang, Penang’s biggest seafront development, will involve reclaiming not only the land on the headland along Tanjong Takong but also a cluster of man-made islands adjoining the headland linked by a series of bridges.

Developer E&O intends to build about 3,000 units comprising roughly a third of landed, condominium and low to medium-cost units over the two-phase ‘multi-island and headland’ development spanning 15 years.

Nearly a third of the landed units have been launched under the current Phase 1 headland development, which covers some 100-ha and whose estimated gross development value is RM2.6 billion (S$1.16 billion). About 85 per cent has already been sold.

‘A lot of money has been spent on reclamation, but cost isn’t something I’d like to get into,’ said E&O director of marketing & sales K C Chong.

What Mr Chong did want to go into greater detail during a media familiarisation trip to the project site earlier this month was the project’s potential. Malaysian real estate is still some of the region’s cheapest and the exemption of real property gains tax has spurred interest.

Despite the scarcity of land in Penang - seafront developments usually sell at a premium - Sri Tanjung Pinang is still affordable, Mr Chong said.A freehold two-and-a-half storey courtyard terrace home of some 3,345 sq ft is priced from about RM800,000 onwards. Prices have appreciated since last year when they were launched at around the RM750,000 mark.

The majority of buyers are from Penang and Kuala Lumpur. Twenty per cent of purchasers are foreigners from Singapore, Scandinavia, Britain and Australia, some of whom intend to settle down in Penang under the Malaysia My Second Home programme.

Mr Chong said the open-air courtyard concept, tropical architecture and 11-ft high ceilings are attractive propositions to foreign buyers. Designed by international architects Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, Sri Tanjung Pinang has many features which take into account the expectations of international investors.

Commercial blocks, retail precincts, schools, parks, a marina and other social amenities form the rest of Phase 1. But perhaps the greater excitement lies in Phase 2 where three to four man-made islands of 300ha would be reclaimed. The current intention is to build high-rise commercial to low-density residential units, a 5-star hotel and boutique resort, a championship golf course, marina beach clubs and seafront residences with private berths.

‘The farthest house from the water stage is less than 800 metres,’ observed the company’s project director (planning and business development) Mohd Razeek Hussain, who walked media through the sand replacement method which was the reclamation technique used in the headland development six years ago.

E&O Property plans to submit its Phase 2 plans soon and expects regulatory approval in two years. Sri Tanjung Pinang is located not far from the famous Gurney Drive and the proposed Penang Outer Ring Road highway would run along the reclaimed headland.

Source: The Business Times, 19 June 2007