Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1533434
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 MARCH 2025 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Hotel proposed by developer Carlo Stivala will rise to 15 f loors on the Strand and to 12 f loors on Triq San Vincenz within the Urban Conservation Area THE Planning Directorate is rec- ommending the approval of a 15-storey hotel proposed by Car- lo Stivala on the Sliema Strand. The hotel, to be known as the Sliema Centric Hotel, is set to re- place an old three-storey corner building that abuts onto Triq San Vincenz. The street is still char- acterised by a row of old houses with a uniform height of three floors. A single eight-storey block of apartments separates the pro- posed hotel from another 15-sto- rey hotel by the same developer that was approved last week by the Planning board. The site is already committed to a nine-storey residential project under a permit issued to Michael Stivala in 2019, following another permit granted to a previous own- er in 2016. The permit although still valid was never executed. The existing building housed a Labour Party club, which was rented to the party for the past decades. The Labour Party al- ready has a larger club in Sliema, located in Triq Gafar. In the latest plans, the hotel will rise to 12 floors on the adjacent three-storey building in Triq San Vincenz within Sliema's Urban Conservation Area. This is largely in line with the height approved in 2019, except for an additional recessed three-room extension built over two floors. The façade, overlooking the Strand will see the addition of three floors over what was ap- proved six years ago. This is the result of two different policies: One extra floor allowed for hotels under the North Harbours Local Plan Policy and two extra floors for hotels permitted by the Hotel Height Adjustment Policy ap- proved in 2014. However, the two top floors will be set back. The case officer concludes that due to the setbacks introduced on both Triq ix-Xatt and Triq San Vincenz, the proposed hotel will not have an adverse impact on the townscape and is in con- formity with the Strategic Plan for the Economy and Develop- ment, "which aims to ensure that all new developments improve amenity and the pleasantness of place." A final decision is set to be taken by the Planning Board on 27 March. 15 floors: the new norm on the Strand? Last week, the Planning Author- ity approved another hotel devel- opment, also proposed by Carlo Stivala, on the Strand at the inter- section with Triq il-Lunzjata. This project will also result in a blank party wall overlooking the UCA. The PA board had previously expressed concern on the lack of adequate transition between the UCA and the Strand. This is because according to plan- ning policies the building should have been stepped down with- in the development zone, but in this case the stepping down was proposed within the urban con- servation area. But the project was approved after minor design changes improving the transition from the UCA. Nonetheless, the board insisted it was bound by a previous permit which allowed an increase in the height of the building within the UCA. Moreover, the application in- volved the sanctioning of works carried out without a permit against the payment of a €48,000 fine. Works on the site resulting from previous permits had "con- tinued" to include a part of the de- velopment envisaged in the hotel development before it was stopped a month before the approval. The PA has also recently ap- proved a 15-storey hotel on the corner between the existing Peb- bles Hotel on Triq ix-Xatt and It-Telgħa tal-Belvedere, proposed by Medasia owner Joseph Casha. Additionally, the PA is assessing another application foreseeing an extension to Michael Stivala's Sliema Hotel, which could also rise to 15 floors. Another 15-storey hotel on Sliema Strand set for approval Although most of the buildings overlooking the Ferries now reach a height of nine floors, Triq San Vicenz is still characterised by a row of old houses with a uniform height of three floors (Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday)