Ideal in MoU to redevelop Swettenham Pier cruise terminal

PETALING JAYA: Ideal United Bintang International Bhd’s wholly owned sub-subsidiary, Solaris Consortium Sdn Bhd has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Penang Port Commission for the development of Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal in Penang.

According to the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the project will be done on a builtoperate-transfer basis on 2.38 acres of land belonging to the commission.

The project entails the redesigning and refurbishment of three buildings, namely Godown 5, Godown 7 and Godown 8, that were built in the early 1900s, and the restoration work will be conducted in accordance with heritage-status guidelines.

Ideal will refurbish and convert the three buildings into a seafront tourist spot lifestyle destination, including duty-free shops, food & beverage outlets, home-grown brands offerings, local made products and gift shops.

“This additional retail will complement 1st Avenue Mall as retail can cross sell each other’s location.”

Ideal said the refurbishment of the buildings will be done in three phases with the first phase expected to be completed by 2021, and Phases 2 and 3 by the following year.

Upon completion, the project will result in a total lettable area of 60,900 sq ft and the expansion will allow the terminal to cater up to

1.7 million passengers a year and up to 12,000 passengers at any one time.

Due to the strategic location and tourist inflows, Ideal expects the project to be profitable within three years and contribute positively to its earnings and revenue.

The pier currently serves as a cruise shipping terminal with Royal Caribbean International making the pier as the mother port for its Asian operation.

Last year, it registered about 500,000 passengers, an increase of 27.1% compared to 2018.