Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/682623
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MAY 2016 2 News Project stalled by litigation over historic building No development brief for ITS site JAMES DEBONO NEGOTIATIONS with the Sea- bank Hotel's owner for the con- cession of the site occupied by the Institute for Tourism Studies in St George's Bay, were started in the absence of a development brief setting out the planning param- eters for development of this site. A Projects Malta tender for the site was issued before the revi- sion of the area's local plan, which started on 28 December, 2015, and which will change the parameters for development in the entertain- ment mecca to one aspiring to be a "quality" business hub. The brief will also include a "strategy" on how to incorporate "tall buildings". According to plans shown to cli- ents and published in The Sunday Times, the forthcoming develop- ment will include two towers of 29 and 23 floors, and the group – Seaport Franchising – had con- firmed allowing interested parties to reserve a property against a re- fundable deposit. In the past, concessions granted for the Fort Cambridge develop- ment in Tigné were issued to- gether with a development brief setting planning parameters, such as building heights, and determin- ing the use of the different zones. Similar briefs were issued in 1995 for the White Rocks site. A substantial part of the ITS building itself cannot be demol- ished because it is protected by law. The barracks were a Level 2 building of historic, architectural and contextual value in 1996. The Victorian Royal Arms and those of Lieutenant-General Sir John Gas- pard Le Marchant (1803-1874), governor of Malta, are sculpted in franka stone on top of the ITS building. Although Grade 2 buildings can- not be demolished, internal altera- tions and changes are normally al- lowed. New development next to such buildings is not precluded. The nearby Corinthia and Radis- son hotel areas, now earmarked for a six-star resort, are part of the local plan's "resort zone". The €400 million investment will see the creation of multiple luxury ho- tels, attracting high net leisure and corporate guests, as well as high- end residential, office, retail and commercial facilities targeting a six-star market. The local plan calls for a restrictive approach to building heights within this zone, which must conform to existing heights with the exception of the Portomaso Tower "which will not be used to determine future heights". Development in this area has to be "strictly limited to hotel use and ancillary facilities". Local plan: Villa Rosa development Development in the Villa Rosa area was already foreseen in the local plan approved in 2006, which set detailed planning parameters for this project. In 2009 the company Vic Bon, owned by Anton Camilleri, pur- chased Dolphin House and the Villa Rosa holiday complex from C.H. Bailey plc for €2.3 million and €29 million, respectively. The local plan protects the upper gardens surrounding the sched- uled villa from any development. But the original plan now appar- ently replaced by a new project was a six-storey development, plus penthouse, on the southern edge of the site. The develop- ment will have to be terraced and stepped down to two floors on the St George's Bay area and the Villa Rosa gardens. Four-storey devel- opment and a car park will also be permitted on the northern edge of the site. The plan foresees the devel- opment of 15 bungalows of 170 square metres each, which should not exceed 25% of the site. Plans yet to be approved by the Planning Authority foresee a clus- ter of 15 bungalows along the val- ley and more intense development in the area adjacent to the Bay Street complex. Moynihan House, a Victorian building, is also ear- marked for development. The 2014 environment impact assessment for the Villa Rosa proposal makes reference to the large underground Għar Ħarq il- Ħammiem cave, which extends from the Villa Rosa valley area right beneath Moynihan House. Geologists claim a new build- ing can be erected in the area as long as appropriate measures are taken. Separate plans were present- ed for a four-storey hotel and beach club facilities in the Cresta Quay area on the other side of St George's Bay. Government reasoning A spokesperson for the Office of the Prime Minister, now responsi- A substantial part of the ITS building itself cannot be demolished because it is protected by law CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 The designs come a week since The Sunday Times revealed plans by the DB group, owners of the Seabank Hotel, to develop the land oc- cupied by the Institute for Tourism Stud- ies, whose designs include two high-rise towers. This newspaper is informed that Camilleri was declined by the Seabank developers after he made an approach to be part of the project, now spearheaded by Seabank's company Seaport Franchis- ing. The Villa Rosa project has already been shown to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, and Garnet Investments is awaiting the outcome of a litigation over Moynihan House between Jeffrey Farrugia and the Lands Department: Farrugia has stated under oath that Camilleri offered him €80,000 for the tender issued by the State on the historic Moynihan House. Controversy over development in St George's Bay was ignited over sugges- tions that the ITS land would be 'sold' for just €6 million, although the group said it put in a higher bid. The DB group plans to open a Hard Rock hotel franchise, complete with entertainment hub and shopping mall on a larger footprint than the Tigné Point development. Projects Malta have said they will re- visit the valuation of the ITS land but the DB group has argued that this should take into consideration the price of near- by land. No formal applications have yet been made to the Planning Authority except for the EIA forged by Garnet Investments for its initial Villa Rosa development. The investments of Garnet, DB, and Corin- thia summed up will exceed €1.1 billion, turning St George's Bay into a verita- ble 'little Dubai' as high-rise and luxury apartments becomes the new norm. An artist's impression of how the towers would look like, by Italian firm MYGG Architecture