Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546491
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWS From red-light district to hotel Once associated with prostitution, showrooms and office buildings, the axis along the Gżira–Msida–Ta' Xbiex border around the abandoned stadium is now being recast as a highly touristified corridor, with hotels increasingly proposed in place of newly approved office developments JUST a couple of decades ago, the Testaferrata corridor link- ing Msida, Gżira and Ta' Xbiex was characterised by rundown buildings from which sex work- ers operated. The area was a shoddy red- light district, where prostitutes walked the streets, waited for clients on doorsteps or looked out of windows. Gżira's association with sex work emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s as Valletta's Strait Street scene declined and activ- ity dispersed outward. Cheap subdivided flats and transient housing along the Gzira–Msi- da–Ta' Xbiex corridor allowed informal street-based activity to concentrate. But this started to change in the noughties when prostitu- tion largely moved online and property in the area started at- tracting developers' interest. The first concerted effort was undertaken by Global Capital, an insurance and investment company that branched out in- to property development. The company wanted to develop the Metropolis high-rise tow- ers into luxury residences and offices. However, the company had also started to buy neigh- bouring properties to secure a better neighbourhood. Even- tually, Global Capital sold out and the Metropolis project was taken over by Libyan investor Husni Bey, although the pro- ject remained dead in the wa- ter. Following a spate of office de- velopment that culminated in the construction of the 23-sto- rey ST Tower, the area is now experiencing a third phase, which sees hotels and even a proposed residential home for the elderly replacing office de- velopments. Ta' Xbiex mayor Max Zam- mit, who represents the largest residential community living close to the area points out that residents living in what used to be a red-light district are wel- coming the change. "In the past, the area had a shady reputation associat- ed with the red-light district. That is now changing as it be- comes increasingly associated with upmarket developments, which not only improve the neighbourhood but have also increased property values," he tells MaltaToday. However, Zammit is also ad- amant that the development should not spill over into the residential and villa area of Ta' Xbiex. "While the council is adamant on preserving the villa area and existing residential neighbour- hoods, we welcome investment in the Testaferrata business hub," he says. Yet the touristification of the area comes with its own chal- lenges. If the current trends persist, the new inhabitants in and around Testaferrata Street will be mostly tourists and of- fice workers—a transient pop- ulation with its specific needs. The new trend In June the Planning Author- ity approved a 76-room hotel on the site occupied by Villino Micallef, a fine example of an early-to mid-20th-century Art Nouveau townhouse on the Gżira stretch of Triq l-Imsida. The building is one of several surviving pockets of architec- tural interest in an area large- ly characterised by run-down post-war apartment blocks, alongside features such as the elegant corner building cur- rently hosting the Sea Food Market Grill. Villino Micallef will now be partly retained, with its façade, entrance hall and staircase in- corporated into the new hotel development. Significantly, the site was al- ready earmarked for an office building in plans approved on- ly a year ago. This could be an indication that hotel develop- ment is becoming more lucra- tive for developers than office buildings. Heritage NGO Din l-Art Hel- wa objected to the demolition of Villino Micallef and the dwarfing of its architectur- al features with an overlying eight-storey structure, but the Superintendence for Cultur- al Heritage cleared the devel- opment after restoration and method statements were sub- mitted by the developer. The 76-room hotel will re- place a cluster of dilapidated apartment blocks, namely the Plymouth, Marilyn and Twins, along with most of the internal spaces of the historical building set between Triq Testaferrata and Triq l-Imsida. The whole site will now be ex- cavated by developer Michael Bugeja before the construction of two levels of underground parking, a restaurant and re- tail outlets at ground floor, and a hotel up to the eighth floor, with a pool at roof level. While the development re- tains key elements of the orig- inal townhouse, the surround- ing area's architectural fabric is being reshaped at a rapid pace in the absence of any master- plan. What was once a distinctive urban quarter, even if shady and rundown, risks becoming another tourism and entertain- ment hub where little of its past survives beyond a handful of retained façades. Hotels instead of petrol stations Several other hotel develop- ments are pending approval. These include an 11-storey, 244-room hotel proposed on the site of the Paul & Rocco petrol station along Triq l-Im- sida by Kenneth Borg Caruana. The hotel is set to include extensive ancillary facilities, including retail shops, a su- permarket, coffee shops and restaurants, a conference hall JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt GasanMamo building, Gzira (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday) Testaferrata Street, Gzira (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)