Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1494707
10 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 MARCH 2023 JAMES DEBONO TWO 'iconic' towers of 27 and 34 storeys will rise over St George's Bay to host 789 ser- viced apartments, 247 hotel roomes and a total 16,000sq.m of office space in a project from developer Anton Camilleri, his son Adelbert and Garnet In- vestments. With hotel rooms and offic- es in clusters of lower build- ings, the massive high-rise will dominate the St Julian's beach under a policy allowing stand- lone hotels to rise above height limits. "This is not a more of the same project. We are aiming at excellence and quality setting trends for the entire country and the Mediterranean," Adel- bert Camilleri says, who adds that the shift to short-term rental apartments with 5-star hotel amenities is part of a global, post-pandemic trend. "They will generate less traffic than residential apartments, mostly cartering for short stays without a need for car." Garnet already has a permit for a low-rise development encircling the bay, which in- cludes a four-storey hotel on the Cresta Quay site – which will be retained – and a com- mercial and residential devel- opment adjacent to Bay Street and on the Moynihan House site, which will be demolished. The plans have removed 15 villas in the valley, which the ERA had objected to, with the permit's validity now extended to 2028. Anton Camilleri justifies the increased volumes of the pro- ject, with gross floor area rising from 141,000sq.m to a stagger- ing 237,000sq.m, by referring to an 11,000sq.m 'Pjazza Tri- toni-size' open square along the beach. The area around the restored Villa Rosa will be retained as a 5,600 q.m pri- vate garden landscaped with indigenous trees and shrubs. "Investing in an iconic high- rise is more expensive to build than just building the whole site conventionally. Instead of covering the whole site with 12-storey buildings we are cre- ating open spaces which up- grade the surrounding area." They say the daily upkeep of public spaces also comes at a substantial cost, since on- ly 42% of the footrpint will be built, making the new public space the largest in St Julian's. Shadowing studies claim to show a minimal impact in summer, Camilleri says of his self-financed €305 million project that will be designed by Dutch firm UNStudio, de- signers of the Arnhem railway station and the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Camilleri said he is adamant in excluding any negative im- pact on the Ħarq Ħammiem subterranean cave which he insists lies outside the bound- aries of the project, mostly within the adjacent ITS site. According to Camilleri, the equipment used in excava- tions will not create vibrations which are harmful to the cave. What the EIA says An Environmental Impact Assessment prepared by ER- SLI Consultants on behalf of Garnet Investments refers to local plan policies that limit building heights of hotels to six storeys and an overlying penthouse stepped down to 2 floors in the area adjacent to St George's Bay and the Villa Rosa gardens. The local plan also states Vil- la Rosa and its grounds should "be developed in a manner that does not compromise the visual integrity of the Vil- la." But the project is being proposed under the Height Limitation Adjustment Policy for Hotels, approved in 2014, which permits "standalone ho- tels" to rise above height lim- its. In this way the two towers hosting the 789 serviced apart- ments will benefit from this policy. Shadowing The EIA focus on the high- rise shadows shows that the Villa Rosa: €305m high-rise will have 789 apartments to house 24,000 tourists Anton Camilleri's Garnet Investments will self-finance a €305 million high-rise development that will overshadow St George's Bay and generate 2,214 car trips on a daily basis Shadowing studies claim to show a minimal impact in summer, Camilleri says of his self-financed €305 million project that will be designed by Dutch firm UNStudio, designers of the Arnhem railway station and the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart