Penangites have been hearing of "the biggest shopping mall in northern region" for a few times. Now here it comes again. It's not on the island, not on the newly planned Batu Kawan, but on the congested Jalan Baru, Prai, where the former largest mall Megamall Pinang sits.
Megamall Pinang, once the largest mall in northern region
Mainland Penang folks have seen how Megamall Pinang rise, fall and then crawl back a little recently. Is Jalan Baru ready for another large scale shopping mall?
This newly planned shopping mall is developed by Belleview group, who also operates 1st Avenue Mall near Komtar. It covers a 6ha (60,000 sq m or ~650,000 sq ft) plot in Jalan Baru, Prai. Its construction work is expected to begin end of this year and completed in the next 36 months.
1st Avenue mall
According to Belleview's MD, this mall will be larger than Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur. Mid Valley has 1.6 million sq ft (149,000 sq m) in nett space but the new mall in Prai which will also have the biggest cinema complex in the country (20 screens), the biggest departmental store and hypermarket, will be 100,000 sq ft larger.
Currently there are a few larger scale shopping malls in mainland Penang, such as Sunway Carnival, Seberang Prai City (Aeon), BM Plaza and Megamall Pinang (Pacific). Besides this mall by Belleview, there are also other upcoming malls at Raja Uda area (Woolley Avenue Mall), Simpang Ampat (Pearl City Leisure Mall) & Alma (Aeon).
Where is the exact location of the mall? There are a few possible sites.
Possible sites along Jalan Baru
From the map, site no.1 is a bit tight and small. Site no.2 has a good location but there are already some other commercial construction going on. Site no.3 & no.4 have higher possibility, especially no.4 where it is unoccupied and has access from 2 major roads. However, land no.4 most likely belongs to UDA.
UDA's Frontage shop offices beside land no.4
If the mall becomes a reality, it will certainly boost the property market around this area. The closest new property should be the Palma Laguna & Pinang Laguna condominium which is also situated along Jalan Baru. Other further condominium includes BM City Mall, Kelisa Heights, Kelisa Residence & K Residence which are all under construction except Kelisa Heights.
Pinang & Palma Laguna construction progress
Hopefully it will not become second Magamall Pinang...
