Penang Times Square is an ongoing urban redevelopment project within George Town in the

Malaysian state Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states and three federal territories, which form the primary administrative divisions of the country. Eleven states and two territories are part of Peninsular Malaysia, while two states and one territory ...

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

. It is located at Dato Keramat Road within the city's Central Business District (CBD), and comprises office blocks, condominiums, a shopping mall and an outdoor plaza. Developed by Ivory Properties Group, at present, the first two phases have been completed, while Phases 3, 4 and 5 are still in the works. In 2016, a new shopping mall,

M Mall O2O M Mall O2O is a shopping mall in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Opened in 2015, it forms part of the Penang Times Square at Dato Keramat Road. The four-storey shopping mall contains decorations consisting of murals and replicas of Penang's famed ...

, was also opened as part of Phase 2 of the Penang Times Square project.

History

Up until the late 20th century, the site was once a tin smelting plant owned by Eastern Smelting, which was formed in 1897. Tin was imported from

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

and southern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

to be smelted into ingots for re-export via the Port of Penang. The decline of

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

's tin industry led to the closure of the tin smelting facility. The area was then acquired by Ivory Properties Group and the Penang Times Square project, which consisted of five phases, began in 2005. As of 2016, Phases 1 and 2 have been completed. As part of Phase 2,

was officially launched in 2016. The remaining three phases are expected to be completed by 2020.

Shopping

Birch the Plaza

Phase 1 of Penang Times Square includes a shopping mall housed within Birch the Plaza, a podium block that also consists of offices and commercial lots. The shopping mall itself covers the first three floors within the block. The mall contains restaurants, fashion boutiques, nail parlours, beauty salons and electronic stores, in addition to a handful of nightclubs. Its 'Food Gallery' also offers a variety of local hawker fare. It was reported that Birch the Plaza was being given a RM10 million facelift by Ivory Properties in 2016 to improve its tenancy rate.

M Mall O2O

The newest shopping mall in George Town was the retail component of Phase 2 of the Penang Times Square project. Opened in 2016, the mall's latest attractions include

's first wax museum, various wall artwork and cultural-themed 'streets' at each of the mall's four floors. As with Birch the Plaza,

has a variety of restaurants, electronic stores and personal care retail outlets.

References

External links

Penang Times Square
{{Shopping malls in Malaysia Shopping malls in Penang Buildings and structures in George Town, Penang