CLUB MEMBERS VOTED TO SELL LAND
At the first special general meeting last year, club members had voted to sell its land in Batu Gantung in a motion that was supported by 146 members, with only three members opposing.
The club then launched an open tender to sell the prime land. But the exercise, which closed in December last year, did not draw any bids that qualified.
The club has been looking for alternative ways to realise the land’s value, estimated at RM6 billion (US$1.4 billion), for commercial use, according to Free Malaysia Today.
Its next option is likely to divide the land into smaller parcels for separate sale, a move that could attract a bigger pool of potential buyers, The Star reported.
The Penang Turf Club has occupied the Batu Gantung site, next to the upscale Taman Jesselton Heights, since 1939.
It moved from its first race course on Macalister Road, also in George Town, which originated from a free land grant. Its first buildings on Macalister Road were made of wood and attap.
In 2011, the club sold about 23 hectares of its 104-hectare site to Berjaya Land Bhd for RM459 million (US$104 million) to develop a low-density housing project, Malay Mail reported.
In 2002, the club had agreed to sell the entire Batu Gantung site to developer Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd for RM488 million.
The developer had planned to build the Penang Global City Centre, a RM25 billion (US$5.6 billion) mixed-use project incorporating shopping malls, hotels, residences, offices and a cultural centre that was touted as a game changer for Penang.
However, public protests and Abad Naluri’s failure to meet some requirements led to the project being rejected in 2008.
The project was widely said to be behind the fall of the Gerakan party in Penang, local media reported. Currently an opposition party, Gerakan once dominated the state legislature.
