Penang construction update (2023 edition)

Trip report for my visit to Penang in March 2023. New hotels questionably close to the old town, an endangered historic cinema, and land reclamation mania.

Penang is one of the main cities that I revisit every year, with 2021 being the only year I missed in the last decade (no prizes for guessing why). While the old town remains entombed in a UNESCO-protected time capsule, some major projects are underway around the island.

I took the bus from the airport to the old town area of Georgetown, which takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Unfortunately, Penang has still not approved the light rail project that will connect the airport to Georgetown. Along the way, I saw some apartment projects that were advertising the fact that they are near a future light rail station.

The bus also went by The Millennium project, which was in the planning stage in 2019, and not 1999 (as most things named Millennium were).

There are several big projects like this near the airport, but I will cover that part of the island another time. My focus for this trip was along the north coast, including a land reclamation project that has sprouted the newest island in Southeast Asia.

Georgetown

I stayed in Georgetown, which is still the best area to stay. I met some American friends who were staying on the island for the first time. They were staying in a new urban area outside the old town, and they regretted the choice because it was boring and unwalkable. “Boring and unwalkable” sums up modern Malaysian cities in one phrase. I will be writing more about this on my next trip to KL (I need to visit some bad urban areas that I know of to complete this article).

They asked me what has changed in Georgetown in the time that I have been visiting. Very few changes are seen in the historic centre of Georgetown, as it is a UNESCO World Heritage area. What I notice is the slow decay of buildings that aren’t maintained.

Some buildings are left to crumble into the ground, as renovating comes at a cost and with many restrictions.

Every year I come back, I see another row of shophouses that have been bought out and restored, such as this row on Lorong Chulia. While this is a good thing, eventually the old shops will be gone, and in their place will be restored houses for tourism purposes. Enjoy the old town while it is still like this.

Outside the Old Town

The Straits Eclectic-style shophouses that make up the old town extend further beyond the old town, but there are no building restrictions. One of the biggest apartment projects next to the old town area is The Wave Tower. This apartment was practically finished the last two times I visited, but it has stalled for some reason. One of the defining features of a modern Malaysian apartment tower is the gigantic podiums for car parking.

The area to the south of the UNESCO area is informally known as the Seven Streets Precinct. A lot of the streets here look just the same as the shophouse-lined streets of the UNESCO area.

The Seven Streets area doesn’t have the same strict protection laws, so anything goes. The Fifth Avenue Hotel project takes up an entire block.

One of the most controversial projects near the old town has been the Runnymede Hotel redevelopment. It has been stalled since the demolition of heritage buildings on the site. There is new signage on the site, and the website says it is open for registration. The website shows a big tower being built behind the historic hotel.

Another controversy outside the old town is the proposed demolition of the iconic Rex Cinema building. I had to think about where it was because I don’t remember seeing it (and I have walked all over the old town). It turns out that the building has been hiding behind cladding, and I have always walked by it, not realising that it was an old cinema hiding in plain sight.

Gurney Drive

Gurney Drive was once lined with mansions and bungalows that looked out over the sea. This road is now lined with apartment blocks, and the latest addition is the Marriott Residences. It has now topped out at 223 m, making it the second-tallest building on the island.

Gurney Drive was once known as North Beach, though it was more of a mud flat than a beach. Either way, the drive is no longer on the seafront as the land reclamation project has filled in most of the bay. This is for the Gurney Wharf project.

Andaman Island

Another big land reclamation project is Andaman Island. This is so big that I have created a fact page for it.

The landfilling stage has been completed, and there is now a sales showroom and cafe that you can visit.

The first apartments are being built, but there is nothing else to do yet.

This was the first time I had been on an island that was still being built. I visited Forest City last year, but the section I stayed in was finished. Everything here is new, including such infrastructure as the water supply.

Sand is piled onto this new island, only for it to be excavated when a new apartment is built in its place.

I couldn’t believe how big this island is, and how fast it was “built” since I was last here. It has not been in the news, so it has gone unnoticed. Meanwhile, to the south, the Penang South Islands are constantly in the news for their environmental concerns and have not been approved yet.