The proposed paired road from Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang will reduce the travelling time between the two places by more than half, said project director Mazlan Ali.

He said it now took about 20 minutes to drive on the 10.9km existing stretch from Tanjung Bungah (where Jalan Lembah Per-mai meets Jalan Tanjung Bungah) to Teluk Bahang.

However, the journey will take just nine minutes on the highway which will be 10.6km long.

Mazlan said this during a public briefing on the highway which is one of the three paired roads proposed to be built under an infrastructure package which includes the proposed undersea tunnel linking Penang island to the mainland.

Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd is the main project contractor.

About 100 people turned up for the briefing at the Tanjung Bungah community hall on Saturday.

It was reported earlier that the road is to run along the foothills starting about 200m from the Teluk Bahang roundabout and ending in Lembah Permai near the Sri Vazhikattum Muniswarar shrine.

It will have three interchanges at Jalan Sungai Emas and Persiaran Sungai Permai and near the Chin Farm Waterfall.

Various environmental concerns were raised at the briefing, including by city councillor Dr Lim Mah Hui who said the billions of ringgit to be spent on road projects would be better channelled towards improving public transport.

Joleen Yap, 26, a zoology student from Universiti Sains Malaysia, said she was concerned that the project would threaten the existence of the Dusky Leaf Monkeys found in the jungles along the Tanjung Bungah-Teluk Bahang corridor.

Katharine Chua, a director of Tropical Spice Garden, called for the Environmental Impact Assess-ment report to be made public to ensure that the ecotourism belt remains sustainable.

Consortium Zenith executive vice-chairman Datuk Lee Chee Hoe said the paired road project was important as an alternative road.

“The existing road is already very congested along Batu Ferringhi,” he said.

State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said the project was expected to commence in mid-2018 and scheduled to be completed in three years.

READ MORE: TheStar.com.my

Map showing approximate location

A proposed affordable housing by Nova Land Development Sdn. Bhd. at Jelutong, Penang. It is strategically located near Nova Place and Grace Residence by Nova Mulia Development, easily accessible via Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.

This development will see the demonstration of 34 existing houses and workshops for the construction of a 42-storey affordable housing. The new housing will offer 444 affordable and 310 low medium cost residential units. Selling price is expected to start from RM150,000 onwards.

This project is still pending for approval. Details to be available upon project launch.

READ MORE ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

• Eligibility and the requirement of buying affordable housing
• Full list of affordable housing in Penang

Property Project : (to be confirmed)
Location : Jelutong, Penang
Property Type : Affordable Housing
Built-up Area: 700 sq.ft., 850 sq.ft.
Total Units: 444 (affordable), 310 (low medium cost)
Indicative Price: RM150,000 onwards (to be confirmed)
Developer: Nova Land Development Sdn. Bhd. (Nova Mulia?)

Location Map:

Aspen Vision City Sdn Bhd (AVCSB) is set to launch its first landed housing at Aspen Vision City in Bandar Cassia, Batu Kawan, Penang next year. AVCSB is a subsidiary of Aspen Vision Land Sdn Bhd (AVLSB) while AVLSB is a subsidiary of Aspen Vision Development Sdn Bhd (Aspen Group).

Aspen Vision City covers 245 acres of freehold land and is one of the biggest mixed developments in Penang offering a combination of condominiums, shopoffices, serviced suites, hotels, office tower, financial hub, medical centre, international school and a range of amenities. The northern region’s first IKEA furniture store will also be located there.

“This will be our first landed and luxurious designer bungalow development in Aspen Vision City which is named ViLuxe. These upcoming bungalows will raise the bar of luxury projects in mainland Penang. It will also have direct access to our 25-acre Central Island Park,” Aspen Group CEO Datuk Murly Manokharan told TheEdgeProperty.com.

There will be a total of 157 units with prices starting from RM2.5 million.

“Our target market is the elite group in mainland Penang and those who know how to appreciate the finer things in life,” said Murly.

According to him, Batu Kawan is the only landbank in Penang and the entire northern region that has infrastructure completed ahead of property developments.

“Billions of ringgit have been spent by the government to connect Penang Island to Batu Kawan.

“The North-South Highway at Batu Kawan makes it very attractive as a destination of choice for people from other northern states which is a largely untapped market. Batu Kawan is a well-planned satellite city — the infrastructure and public amenities are all well thought-out by the government. In other developments, developers need to pay high land cost and heavy infrastructure investment before they start their developments,” said Murly.

He added that due to its accessibility, the economy of scale in Batu Kawan will be better than in Penang Island as the area is well connected to almost all states in Peninsular Malaysia. The high-tech and light industries that are mushrooming in Batu Kawan also play key roles as job centres. With all these elements and the attractive land cost, it is not ambitious to say Batu Kawan will spearhead the future of Penang’s commercial and financial activities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the group will also officially launch another component of Aspen Vision City, Vertu Resort, in December.

Vertu Resort is a resort-inspired condo development with furnished move-in condition units. It is Aspen Vision City’s first residential development.

The project was soft-launched in February this year and is already 60% booked. The project has a gross development value (GDV) of RM620 million. It has 1,282 units with built-ups ranging from 1,030 sq ft to 1,290 sq ft. Prices start from about RM450,000.

Aspen Group had also recently launched Small-office Home-office (SoHo) units known as Beacon Executive Suites in George Town, Penang in September. It has achieved a 40% take-up rate so far.

“There are a total of 227 units with built-ups of 980 sq ft. Prices start from RM558,000,” said Murly, adding that the project has a GDV of RM150 million and is targeted for completion by 2019.

On the property market, he noted that the market has been challenging not only in Penang but in the entire region.

“However, it very much depends on the relevance of the product to buyers. The right product will still strike the market well. The property market will remain challenging next year and developers need to understand the needs of the market and put in more thoughtful details so that the new projects will remain relevant to buyers,” he offered.

Aspen Group has so far achieved RM850 million in sales and targets to hit RM1 billion sales by the end of the year.

The group has a current undeveloped landbank of RM13.1 billion GDV and is planning to acquire more potential land in Penang and the Klang Valley.

Read Source: TheEdgeProperty.com.my

The three paired roads proposed as part of the RM6.3 billion undersea tunnel project could be delayed further due to land and environmental assessment issues, said state executive councillor Lim Hock Seng.

“This package was supposed to start first but we found that the lands that was previously acquired by the federal government for the PORR project still belonged to the federal government,” the public works and utilities committee chairman said.

The PORR was the Penang Outer Ring Road project that was proposed by the previous Barisan Nasional state government and later cancelled after they lost in Election 2008.

He said the state government will need to seek approval from the federal government to use the affected land before work for the so-called Package Two — paired roads connecting the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway to Air Itam — can start.

Lim said that Penang will proceed with Package One — phase one to connect Tanjung Bungah to Batu Ferringhi and second phase to connect Batu Ferringhi to Teluk Bahang — in the meantime.

He said Consortium Zenith BUCG, the company undertaking the massive undersea tunnel and paired roads project, will identify the land needed and inform the state for acquistion.

“This section involves private land so we can acquire it, unlike federal government-owned land which we can’t acquire,” he said.

But he said Package One will also need a detailed environmental impact assessment (DEIA) from the Department of Environment before they can commence work on the project, compared to the preliminary report as previously required.

The three paired roads project are supposed to be carried out in stages between this year to 2025.

The third package is to connect Gurney Drive to Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway and it will be the last package to be constructed.

On whether the delay in implementing the projects could raise costs, Lim said the costs of construction for the paired roads were already fixed according to the tender agreement with Consortium Zenith BUCG.

“However, we won’t know about the land costs, as we needed to acquire land, so if land prices were to increase, this means the costs of acquiring lands for the project might increase,” he said.

The proposed undersea tunnel is a 7.2km link between Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam in north Seberang Perai and the three paired roads were to disperse traffic in the areas and to link to the undersea tunnel.

Meanwhile, a public briefing on Package One of the paired roads, the one from Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang, will be held on this Saturday evening at the Tanjung Bungah market complex to explain the details of the project to local residents.

Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu said his office will also conduct a survey to gather public opinion on the project.

“The paired road is a needed infrastructure project that will benefit the public but I am certain that by engaging the residents in the whole process, there will be a better understanding of the project,” he said in another press conference this morning.

Other than the upcoming briefing, Teh said there will also be more meetings in the form of dialogues with residents in future.

Read Source: TheMalayMailOnline.com

MARC Residences, an upcoming mixed development by Jayamas Property Group at Bukit Mertajam. Strategically located on a 1.84 acres land along the ever bustling Jalan Song Ban Kheng. It is diagonally opposite Honda 3S Centre, just a stone’s throw away from Beng Teik primary school.

This development will see a 26-storey skyscraper, offering a mix of shop houses, serviced suites and condominium units:

• Shop office (8 units)
• Serviced suites (40 units)
• Condominium (110 units)

Residential units has a built-up area ranging from 1,130 sq.ft. to 2,242 sq.ft.

Project Name: MARC Residences
Location : Bukit Mertajam, Penang
Property Type : Mixed development
Built-up Area: 1,130 sq.ft. to 2,242 sq.ft.
Total Units: 8 (office), 40 (suites), 110 (condo)
Indicative Price: (to be confirmed)
Developer: Auspicious Properties (Jayamas Property Group)

Location Map: