More units in the offing

THE Penang Development Corporation (PDC) is holding a Request For Proposal (RFP) for a joint development project on a 1.7ha plot at the Sandilands foreshore in Jalan C.Y. Choy.

The project will comprise medium-cost apartments, low medium- cost flats and related commercial facilities.

PDC was appointed by Chief Minister Incorporated (CMI), the registered plot proprietor, to develop and manage the land.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is also PDC chairman, said they were calling for RFP from incorporated local companies to design and build the whole project.

He said the development was initiated at the request of local residents who have been staying in 54 houses with Temporary Occupation Licences.

“The residents have been complaining of floods in the area that has fast become a mosquito breeding ground.

“We will ensure that there are sufficient units for the affected households. Each household will be given a unit as compensation while the extended families will also be given priority to purchase a unit.

“Besides, the CMI has always been supportive of the state government’s efforts to develop more affordable homes. If everything goes as planned, construction will begin next year and the project will be completed within 60 months,” he told a press con- ference at his office in Komtar yesterday.

The project when completed will have 482 medium-cost apartments — 241 units with a minimum 1,000sq ft priced at RM400,000, 161 units at minimum 900sq ft each at RM300,000 and 80 units at 800sq ft each at RM200,000.

There will also be 321 units of low medium-cost flats of 700sq ft each set at a ceiling price of RM72,500.

The development component will also have commercial content with a build-up area of not more than 90,014 sq ft.

The apartments and low medium-cost flats will be provided with finishes and facilities such as closed-circuit television cameras as well as electronic access cards at the entrance gate and inside the lifts.

Lim said the reserve price for the land premium was RM125 per sq ft, adding that interested parties could purchase the RFP documents for RM1,000 during office hours at PDC starting today. The deadline is Sept 3.

When being told that a similar RFP on the same plot was announced early last year, Lim said the move failed to take off due to some ‘legal complications’. - The Star