The club’s general manager and secretary Leow Khin Ming confirmed that the tender process, which closed yesterday, did not result in any successful offers.

“The club will now continue with alternative avenues for the realisation of its properties,” Leow told FMT.

The tender exercise was carried out following a mandate from the extraordinary general meeting on June 10, where members overwhelmingly voted to dissolve the club and sell its land, citing changing times and high maintenance costs.

The Penang Turf Club, founded in 1864, holds about 202 acres of prime land in Batu Gantong.

It originally held 259 acres but in 2011, Berjaya Land Bhd bought 57.3 acres of the land for RM459 million to build a low-density, exclusive housing project.

In 2002, the club had agreed to sell its 259-acre Batu Gantong site to Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd for RM488 million. The developer planned to build the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC), a RM25 billion mixed-use project with shopping malls, hotels, residences, offices and a cultural centre.

However, public protests and the developer’s failure to meet council requirements led to the project being rejected in 2008. The project was widely said to be behind Gerakan’s fall in Penang.