The verdict
3.9/ 5Merione Residences is IJM Land's newest tower at The Light Waterfront in Gelugor: 145 semi-furnished three-bedroom homes on levels 11 to 39 of a 39-storey block, above the Merione Grand commercial floors, with just five homes per floor.
- Price
- RM1.58M–RM1.94M
- Tenure
- Freehold
- Completion
- 2029
Zac’s own rating, not user reviews.
Zac’s own rating, not an average of user reviews. It reflects one licensed agent’s assessment of this project against others he tracks in Penang.
This is part of my Gelugor 2026 buyer's guide. Start there for the bigger picture.
Expensive precincts always develop a cheaper door. At The Light Waterfront, that door is MeriOne Residences: 145 semi-furnished freehold three-bedrooms on levels 11 to 39 of a single tower, five per floor, advertised at RM1,578,000 to RM1,943,000 and due in December 2029. Lightwater, the precinct's flagship, starts around RM2.085M. What you give up for the difference is the real subject of this review.
Key takeaways:
- 145 three-bedrooms of about 1,055–1,206 sq ft, levels 11–39, five per floor, two or three parking bays each.
- RM1.578M–1.943M, roughly RM1,500–1,600 per sq ft, against Lightwater's RM1,810–1,870.
- Launched 13 September 2026; due December 2029.
- Every unit is open to foreign buyers.
- The trade-offs: compact homes, a commercial podium below, and a three-year wait.
What you get
Three layouts, all three-bedroom: about 1,055, 1,195 and 1,206 sq ft. With only five homes per floor across 29 residential floors, it's a quiet tower for its height. Each home comes semi-furnished with two or three parking bays.
Shared facilities are on level 10, between the offices and the homes: an infinity pool, gym, steam room, playground and pickleball court. The building has a covered link to the convention centre, The Waterfront Shoppes and the hotels, and direct access to the planned Penang Waterfront LRT station.
What the lower price gives up
There are three honest subtractions. First, size: 1,206 sq ft is the largest home here, where Lightwater runs to 3,186. A growing family will feel that. Second, position: your view depends on the level and stack you pick, so check what each side actually faces. Third, time: December 2029 is three years away, about nine months after Lightwater.
What survives is what many buyers actually want: the address, the precinct's amenities, IJM's delivery record and freehold tenure, at about RM500,000 less than Lightwater's entry. If your goal was the precinct rather than its flagship, MeriOne is a rational purchase, not a compromise.
How it compares with what's already built
MeriOne's price per square foot is well above the completed phases next door. Mezzo, finished in 2025, asks about RM1M–1.5M for two- and three-bedrooms of a similar size, roughly RM970–1,100 per sq ft. The Light Linear offers bigger three-bedrooms of about 1,500 sq ft from about RM850,000.
So you're paying a premium of several hundred ringgit per square foot to buy new, with a 2029 handover, semi-furnishing and a direct LRT link. That's worth it for some buyers. But compare it honestly with a finished home you can move into this year.
Living above a podium
The homes start at level 11 because the floors below belong to Merione Grand: retail units, shop-offices and boutique offices. IJM reported full take-up of the commercial units in September 2026. The convenient half: coffee, food and services downstairs, the covered link to the mall, and some height for every home. The honest half: podium buildings bring service traffic and longer operating hours, and maintenance is shared with the commercial floors. Ask how that split works, and check exactly what "semi-furnished" includes on the specification sheet rather than in the show unit.
Open to foreign buyers from the first unit
Most mid-priced island launches start below the RM1,000,000 foreign-buyer minimum. At MeriOne the cheapest home already qualifies, which matters at resale too, because your future buyer pool includes international money across every stack. Every unit is above RM1.5M, so budget the 3% state levy (about RM47,000 on the cheapest home) and the flat 8% stamp duty.
Getting around
Measured road distances from the precinct at free-flow speeds (rush hour takes longer): Queensbay Mall about 6 km, 8 minutes; Komtar about 10.5 km, 12 minutes; the airport about 11 km, 13 minutes. The LRT station is due in December 2031. In Klang Valley, new stations added only a small premium to nearby prices, so treat it as a convenience.
Who it suits
It suits a professional couple or compact family who want The Light City's future at its lowest new-build entry, a foreign buyer who wants a fully eligible address in the precinct, and a long-term holder who trusts IJM to finish the masterplan. It doesn't suit anyone who needs more than 1,206 sq ft; for that, look at Lightwater or the completed Collection phases. The Light Waterfront guide compares every phase.
Zac’s Take
Zac Ong
MeriOne is the cheapest new-build way into The Light City: compact three-bedrooms, five to a floor, a direct link to the mall and the future LRT station, and every unit open to foreign buyers. The catch is that it costs far more per square foot than the finished homes next door, and you wait until 2029. Buy it if new matters to you; otherwise compare it with a completed home first.
Average response: under 1 hour, 9am–7pm Mon–Sat.
📲 Get MeriOne availabilityCurrent details are on the Merione Residences project page.
Sources: Prices, layouts, levels, homes per floor, parking, furnishing, facilities and completion from IJM Land's Merione pages and its September 2026 launch announcement (reported by The Star and EdgeProp). Price per square foot is calculated from the advertised range and sizes. Foreign-buyer rules from the Penang Land Office guideline (August 2024).