Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546491
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWS hotel corridor: Testaferrata Street and a gym. The proposal also includes the excavation and construction of a five-level basement. The plans were pre- sented before the government introduced a 200-room cap on new hotels. Another four-star hotel could also replace the Sterling service station at the corner of Triq Testaferrata and Triq Giorgio Mitrovich in Ta' Xbiex. Planning application PA/06058/26 proposes the demolition of the existing ser- vice station structures, excava- tion of three basement levels for parking and construction of a showroom at ground-floor level, with an addition nine floors for a four-star hotel above. The proposal follows a 2023 permit for the same site which envisaged a temporary transi- tion from the existing petrol station. Back them the Plan- ning Authority approved the demolition of the station build- ings and car wash while retain- ing the fuel pumps and canopy, together with an open-air pri- vate car park and a small fuel attendant's office. The case officer report not- ed that the applicant intended the car park to serve nearby offices "until the whole site is redeveloped", with the petrol station expected to be decom- missioned "in around 8 years time". Hotel instead of GasanMamo Another proposal would transform the GasanMamo building and two adjacent blocks of flats at the corner between Triq Enrico Mizzi Street and Triq l-Imsida into a 151-room hotel with 322 beds. In March 2023, the Planning Authority had already ap- proved a seven-storey office building for the site, but the development was never carried out. Back then the Superin- tendence for Cultural Heritage had called for the integration of the existing façade of the old apartment blocks within the proposed development due to its historical importance in "defining" this part of Gżira. However, the PA's planning directorate concluded that "a symmetrical design" was re- quired to render the corner building a landmark. The case officer at the time had concluded that the ap- proved office scheme would "complement the ongoing changes to the Gżira-Msida skyline", describing the area as evolving into "a destination of choice" for a business hub. Hotels included in high-rise projects Hotels also feature in plans for two high-rise developments: The first on the Muscat Motors showroom site; the other part of a significantly revised Me- tropolis mixed-use project. The first permit of the Me- tropolis project was issued in 2009 but the site remains a 6,000sq.m excavation pit. The updated scheme would consol- idate the previously approved three-tower development in- to a single 34-storey structure incorporating hotel accom- modation on the lower floors alongside residential and com- mercial uses. Meanwhile, Mizzi Estate Ltd has submitted a planning ap- plication for a 31-storey tower comprising offices, a hotel and residential units on the site around the scheduled Muscat Motors showroom just across the road. Old people's home Consistent with the shift from offices to collective accommo- dation is a proposal by FDS Property 2 Ltd for a 60-bed- room residential care home. This project will replace an al- ready approved but unbuilt of- fice block fronting Triq l-Imsi- da, adjacent to Villino Micallef. The application proposes in- ternal and external alterations and a change of use to a home for the elderly. The missing link The main missing link re- mains the site of the former Em- pire Stadium in Gżira, spanning approximately 23,480sq.m. The site is owned by the Testaferra- ta family heirs. In its heyday, it was operated by Carmelo "Memé" Scicluna, the businessman widely known as "Mr Football", who leased the land—formerly used by the RAF as a balloon station—from Baron Testaferrata Moroni Vi- ani. It last served as a football stadium in the beginning of the 1980s and has remained aban- doned ever since. The North Harbour Local Plan designates the site as a prime development site, encourag- ing high-quality mixed-use or commercial activities that inte- grate well into the established business and financial district. No planning applications have yet been presented for this lu- crative but dormant site, which could be eligible for a high-rise development under current policies. As surrounding plots intensi- fy, the site is increasingly seen as a potential balancing space within an otherwise densifying corridor. Transformation without a plan The Gżira "employment node" was explicitly identified as an appropriate strategic lo- cation for high-rise develop- ments—predominantly for of- fice uses—in the 2014 Planning Authority policy framework on building heights. Subsequently, a number of of- fice developments partly cater- ing for gaming companies were undertaken. In fact, the pro- posed hotels are a stone's throw away from Michael Stivala's ST Tower, which currently hosts offices with impressive views and already dominates the sky- line along Triq Testaferrata. Further up the road, the for- mer Wembley ice cream fac- tory has already been trans- formed into an eight-storey office building. But a new trend seems to have set in amidst the post-COVID tourism boom, which coincid- ed with a decline in demand for offices. Residents have largely wel- comed the transformation, and objections to development in the Testaferrata area have been rare, possibly because regener- ation has also driven up prop- erty values. Triq Testaferrata and Triq l-Imsida also lie at the border of three localities—Ta' Xbiex, Gżira and Msida—enhancing the anonymity of the area. And with an increasingly transient population, less root- ed than residents, they are less likely to object. The prolifera- tion of hotels is likely to rein- force this trend. This also echoes a parallel with Paceville, another locality with an increasingly transient population, where original in- habitants were gradually dis- placed as the entertainment zone spilled into surrounding areas. But while the new projects are injecting new life into the Testaferrata area, the speed of transformation raises familiar questions about whether Mal- ta is once again allowing mar- ket-led development to dictate the future of an entire district. As hotels and high-rise pro- jects replace ageing residential blocks, the Testaferrata cor- ridor risks becoming an ex- tension of hotel development along the Gżira front. Without a broader vision for the area, the corridor could end up following the trajectory of Paceville—a place where suc- cessive individual permits cre- ated a profitable tourism hub, but one with little coherent urban identity, public space, or clear boundary, spilling in- to Swieqi, St Julian's and Pem- broke. Zoning is key mayor insists The Ta' Xbiex mayor, Max Zammit, argues that what is unfolding is best understood as a redirection of uses within a clearly defined employment and commercial zone, rather than an erosion of residential fabric. He says the council's focus is on preventing spillover into surrounding residential areas, where development pressure is more tightly resisted. He cites the council's objec- tion to a proposed hostel in a residential area of Ta' Xbiex as an example of this approach, stressing that the villa and resi- dential neighbourhoods should remain strictly protected. "It all depends on zoning," he says. "If hotels do not spill over into the residential and villa ar- eas, we have no objection. It is a question of balance." He also points to earlier phas- es of development, including office-led regeneration, as ev- idence that large-scale change can be absorbed with limited disruption when properly man- aged. The ST Tower project, he notes, was completed in under a year following consultation with residents. Meanwhile, the proverbi- al red lights are switching off and what was once a notorious district is gradually transform- ing into a go-to area for office workers, tourists and eventual- ly shoppers and diners. Montage of hotel proposed instead of Testaferrata petrol station