Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/688389
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JUNE 2016 2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 THE Radisson was part of the col- lection owned by the Zahra fam- ily's Island Hotels, the group ac- quired for €50 million by IHI plc. MaltaToday is informed that IHI plans to replace the Radisson with two towers, with a continu- ous development of other apart- ment blocks along the shoreline, retaining the Corinthia San Gorg hotel, and culminating in a three- block apartment complex of at over six storeys in place of the Marina Hotel. The IHI towers will bring the total of high-rise towers to seven towers in the St Julian's and St George's Bay area enabled by the Labour government's generous high-rise policy. Two high-rise buildings, includ- ing a 44-storey tower, are in the pipeline by the owners of the St George's Park complex – the Te- staferrata Group – and by Paul Xuereb of PX Lettings in a por- tion of land behind the Intercon- tinental Hotel. Xuereb intends building a 29-storey five-star ho- tel. These latest two projects, which are still on the drawing board, could be expected to join other developments proposed for the area, including the site currently housing the Institute of Tourism Studies, Villa Rosa and Mercury House. The former ITS land will be the site of two high-rise towers for Silvio Debono's hotels group, a Hard Rock franchisee; Villa Rosa, owned by developer Anton Camilleri 'il-Franciz', will see a striking Zaha Hadid concept for a 36-storey tower and a develop- ment stretching all the way from Cresta Quay to Moynihan House in a vessel-like creation; and Mer- cury House in Paceville will be developed into a 40-storey com- plex by Gozitan developer Joseph Portelli. Additionally, the Tigné pen- insula in Sliema is braced for a 38-storey tower for the Towns- quare project developed by the Gasan Group, and a 40-storey tower hotel proposed by Gap Holdings on the site of the Fort Cambridge officers' mess. News Portelli applies for 15 storeys next to Eden carpark JAMES DEBONO GOZITAN developer Joseph Por- telli has applied for the construc- tion of 50 studio apartments, a hotel with amenities, retail outlets and of- fice space spread over 15 storeys in Paceville, next to the Eden cinema parking. Portelli, who owns Gozitan real estate company Karkanja, is the de- veloper behind a proposed tower of 40 storeys and another of 25 storeys flanking the historic Mercury House in Paceville – a scheduled building – to house commercial and residential units. The new application for the 15-sto- rey complex is being proposed in- stead of an existing villa. The maximum height of the new development is pegged to that of the Intercontinental Hotel on St George's Road, which benefitted from a two-storey extension in 2014. The Portelli development also in- cludes four underground parking levels, and building heights will be stepped down from 15 storeys to eight storeys. The Gozitan developer also rede- veloped the former Forum Hotel site in Tal-Ibrag into an apartment block, as well as having been behind the development of the Hal Saghtrija residential block in Zebbug, Gozo. Portelli runs Karkanja Ltd, a real estate company based in Gozo and which has built several apartment complexes and other residential pro- jects dotted around several Gozitan villages. The 15-storey tower complex is being proposed on the land behind the Intercontinental Hotel, which is itself adding three more storeys. STORY BELOW St George's Bay set to become high-rise central All will change: IHI plc plans to retain the Corinthia hotel (centre) but replace the Radisson (right) with two towers, and dot the coastline with medium-rise apartment blocks The Hard Rock hotel that Seaport Franchising plan to develop on the site of the ITS college at St George's Bay. Towering behind it will be the new Corinthia towers Corinthia San Gorg Radisson Hotel Corinthia Marina