A Singaporean “lifestyle property developer” has entered into a joint-venture with Beverly Heights Properties Sdn Bhd to develop land that covers Pepper Estate in Penang – a move that could result in the displacement of an established local community.
Oxley Star Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore-based Oxley Holdings Limited, entered into a joint venture agreement with Beverly Heights Properties on 21 June giving Oxley Star the absolute right to develop 30 acres (119876 square metres) of land owned by BHP for residential use.
The freehold land comes under Grant No. 62839 for Lot 3643 and Grant No. 44471 for Lot 2859 in Mukim 18, Daerah Timor Laut, Penang, Malaysia. The Pepper Estate residents live on Lot 3643 covering 78433 square metres (19 acres).
Oxley Star will receive all the income from the project including 70 per cent of the gross total sales with the remaining 30 per cent going to BHP (Singapore Business Review).
BHP is entitled to receive a total that ranges from RM500m to RM900m. It has already received RM10m.
The balance will be paid to BHP as follows:
- Second payment: RM10m within three months of agreement after removal of lessees.
- Third payment: RM10m within six months (extendable) after submission and approval of building plans.
- Fourth payment: RM20m upon launch of first phase and after clearing existing occupiers and providing Oxley Star with a minimum of five acres for the first phase.
- Remainder: Upon issue of certificate of fitness of occupation/final progress claim/closure of account for each phase.
Check out the payment schedule in the joint venture agreement here.
The agreement is subject to BHP obtaining all the necessary approvals from local authorities. (So there is still a lot the local authorities can do to protect the interests of the residents.)
The main shareholders of Oxley Holdings Ltd according to the firm’s 2012 Annual Report are as follows:
The Board of Directors can be found here.
Of interest is that Oxley Holdings has its own corporate social responsibility programme “centered on helping the underprivileged and elderly poor. In doing so, Oxley hopes to extend the hand of fellowship and contribute towards building a caring society”.
The firm has held a charity show and a charity golf event to raise funds for the disadvantaged and senior citizens. In 2010, “the Oxley team rallied 50 boys from Boys’ Town to clean up some 30 homes of elderly and disabled persons in Bukit Merah, and distribute daily provisions to 80 needy households in the neighbourhood. As Oxley had pledged $1,000 for every Boys’ Town participant, the boys through giving a helping hand, were also one step closer to improving their own living conditions. The $50,000 collected was channelled towards the Boys’ Town building fund.”
Sounds like a very caring company; so hopefully, it will extend the same care, concern and compassion to the residents of Pepper Estate, many of whom are similarly disadvantaged. After all, we are talking about billions in gross development value.
A few questions come to mind here:
- Will this project create even more high-end housing in Penang beyond the reach of the majority of Penangites?
- If so, will there be a low-cost component?
- Are foreign property developers given free rein to operate in Penang?
- Where is all this high-end property developement leading to?
- Is this the sort of globalisation we want?
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Anil,
I was told the developer for Pepper Estate just submmitted their plan to State Planning Committee to develop a few blocks of apartment in that area. There will be 5 phases, with apartment blocks of around 30-40 floors, excluding car park levels and podium etc. The plan calls for 2000-3000 units of apartments, very high density indeed.
Thanks, for the update. Will check. Cheers.
Since we cannot avoid development as the land has been legally sold, I would suggest MPPP require the developer to build a new straight road from Fettes Park until the reservoir
its a disease that started with the gomen spreading the initial virus via malaysia my second home programme and the rest is history
the Star reported that many Chinese nationals are now coming to Malaysia for the MM2H and buying up houses with cash, to the delights of developers and the dismay of local house buyers?
We may see a Great Wall of China build as perimeter fencing for the richie Chinese (of China) as a statement of territorial lifestyle. What say you, Mah Sing?
MM2H will lead to MM2BH…Many Malaysians 2 Become Homeless
MM2H = More Malaysians To Hutang?
Sorry guys. Welcome to the new world. And if you think its all foreigners then you may be disappointed to learn the truth. Many of my colleagues (locals) owns multiple properties. And they are all under loans, which combined are beyond what their salary can afford, if not for rental income. Its the BANKs that is the culprit.
property developers are nothing but just beggars with tin cups, will do anything for foreign investment, soon there’ll be arab tower, korean tower, china tower, japanese tower even african tower, where all these people are cooped up in their tower, living out their so called lifestyle and looking down on the local population as the have-nots
Your definition of lifestyle is definitely different from your kids born after 90’s.
Older Penangites are thrifty and will not buy from Starbucks but not their GenY kids.
You may be happy with an old Nokia but GenY upgrades their smartphones every 6-9 months. New condos are built with premium ‘brand name’ so that your address will sound lavish for snobbish appeal. This is called intangible asset. GenY needs brand name to feel good so as not to be left behind by their peers.
The developers are smart to cash in as many people are willing to fork out extra for premium name as a statement to tell others that they have ‘arrived’ to be accepted in the elite social circle. Usually such people had low self esteem and need materialism to satisfy their pathetic ego.
Unfortunately those practical minded people like tunglang who settles for generic kopi and not branded Starbucks are few in between. Therefore anil should promote frugal and thrifty lifestyle with the help of his sensible readers in this blog.
Good idea. We need to have simpler lifestyles.
lifestyle living is not for penangites…only for impressionable loser in kl & spore or other msian states that don’t have souls…penangites are realistic & down to earth ppl…dont let developers tell how we’re suppose to live…mahsing…spsetia…and the whole bogus lot of you…go sell you’re crap elsewhere
Yes, the lifestyle houses and condo is definitely not for Penangite. Its built and to be sold to the foreigners. Look at the corner of Gurney Drive and Northam Road. The size of an average unit is 10,000+ sq ft and penthouse 15,000 sq ft. It cost well over 6 – 10 millions. You know who bought some of the unit …. Just like many others along Gurney Drive and Tanjung Bungah, those high end unit have an average of 5000 sq ft to 10,000+ sq ft. Definitely few Penangite can afford it. Its the Singaporean & foreigners whose currency… Read more »
Beverly Heights. Can’t they come up with something more original?
Breathe the air of eminence, reads another logo. How do you do that?
Originality.
Some of our corporate names are truly cringe worthy. Of course, no one will tell you straight to your face, especially diplomatic westerners who stand to make a pile with or from you.
If it’s not a wholesale lift, like Times Square or Bayswater, it’s usually a chop off.
Maximum cellular communications digitally. Now who can guess the names from this sentence?
No orang putih name, no oomph.
No oomph, no value and class.
No value and class, who want to buy.
Waiting for local Penangite, can wait lah.
Even UMNO cannot discard its orang putih name
Lifestyle condos is a decade old concept of ‘living to the hilt’ to show off an adopted lifestyle enviable to the average guys by any standard of normal living within the means. It is no different to smart phones, wide screen home theatre TVs, saloon cars, designer wears or even Marta Steward inspired designer dry-kitchens. Except that it blows big holes in your shallow pockets (never mind even if you just wear a Levi jeans with only 4 finger-deep pockets of 4-income sources). Features of lifestyle condos: Majority of local home buyers are not as savvy & design-discerning as the… Read more »
tunglang hits jackpot again from street food to lifestyles of wanabes in penang.
looks like frugal lifestyle of traditional penang will be a thing of the past. The so-called become richie rich guru-developers are now preaching THE WAY OF LIFE as if ringgit earned is 3 times more valuable than beverly hills american dollars !
by the way, levi’s, texan or even Louis apparel are partially sewed in Penang before before the branded labels are put elsewhere to jack up the ‘luxury’ prices so that you feel you are like tom cruise, brad pitt alikes.
Now even street food are no more cheap compared to some air con restaurant.
Eg. Yang Chow fried rice at road side cost RM4.00 – 5.00. Some air con restaurant charges 6.50 – 7.50 and it come with drinks. Go Prangin Mall, 5th floor. Most hawker food on offer at only RM2.00.
You are right, Yang. The Cosmopolitan frenzies of build, build, build of ‘bling-bling’ lifestyle ecstasies without the local purchasing power (of Penangites) to support such extravagance of richie lifestyle has caught the wild imagination of many Ori-Maestros & wannabes dreaming of a richie condo or on-the-hill fengshui bungalows. Thus the dizzying prices of many street hawker food ascending like hot breathing air on a warm summer night! I will cut down on makan-makan to save for my days, rainy or windstorm. Or else, frequent those wannabes that still serve OK hawker food at hard to find prices in Air Itam… Read more »
The innocence of old days Penang will be gone with the “lifestyle codos” imposed upon us by KL/Spore developers ?
May be Anil can seek to elaborate and define for us the meaning of “lifestyle condos”, thks 🙂
Hi Johari, I am really not sure what “lifestyle” housing is. All I know is that I won’t be able to afford it! 😉
When the Oxley vulture comes in (as per the BHP’s right to appoint Developer(s) of it’s choice, its the last nail on the PE residents’ coffin. The former are die-and-cast astute business only men, no compassionate grounds required! The former tenants occupy more than half the size of the property. Let’s hope the DAP CM LGE Penang Government has some statutes in place that can stop foreign Developers from JVs with non-G private land.. Might be some leeways there and hold out for reasonable compensations! The Almighty Works in mysterious ways, Normally for land over 6 acres, there is a… Read more »
I hope more and more condos are in progress righ now.
When market becomes gloomy (like in Spain /Portugal) later in Malaysia (there’s a chronic economic cycle) then I can have bargain handpick condos at discounted prices later 🙂
Believe me the property bubbles gonna burst sooner or later……
“…Are foreign property developers given free rein to operate in Penang?…”
Yes.Seems like it. & it is not seditious.
UMNO, MCA, MIC, Gerakan have been doing this last 50 years.
hooo wiii, this lil ol island sure is in a heap of a mess, bunch of rich folks aimin to build themselves houses with some fancy shmancy name like beverly heights and other whatchamacallits and go messin up mother nature, while them local folks helpin them are just like a bunch of hounds … out on a coon hunt, aimin to cash in on them rich folks money, if this the way y’all wanna live, y’all are just a bunch of beverly hillbillies…time to dippin in my cement pond
Charity Golf Event is a syiok sendiri event for the rich in the name of helping the poor.