Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/745623
6 JAMES DEBONO THE nine sites earmarked for a massive increase in development in the Paceville master plan will need 15,251 parking spaces, with the greatest demand cre- ated by office development such as that proposed for St George's Park: 4,200 additional parking spaces, 2,563 of which would be for offices. This information was included in an appendix to the Paceville master plan which gives a break- down of the different kinds of development earmarked for each site and details on the de- velopable footprint of each site. Of the nine sites earmarked for development in Paceville, the Institute for Tourism Stud- ies at St George's Bay will see the sharpest growth in its f loor area, increasing by 2,390% – from just 5,702 square metres today to 142,000 square metres when developed as a high-rise, with maximum heights reaching 30 f loors. The Villa Rosa site will regis- ter the second greatest increase in f loor area (the area occupied by each f loor) from the present 13,005 square metres to 111,000 square metres – which trans- lates into a 754% increase. Portomaso is to remain the largest of the nine sites through the addition of 72,080 square metres of mostly hotel develop- ment on reclaimed land. But the Corinthia site will see the larg- est increase in residential de- velopment while the St George's Park site will see a substantial increase in office space. Most of the new development proposed on reclaimed land at Portomaso will consist of hotel development, which is set to oc- cupy an additional f loor space 67,456 square metres. Develop- ment on reclaimed land can rise up to 15 f loors. Portomaso's existing 117,679 square metres of residential development will increase by only 4,113 square metres. Of- fice space will only increase by 427 square metres from the current 12,203 square metres. At 234,000 square metres, Por- tomaso will remain the largest development site in Paceville, through the addition of an ad- ditional 72,080 square metres. It will also see an extra 650 ho- tel guests (24% of the projected additional number of tourists in all Paceville) but only 62 new residents and 18 new employees. Portomaso will only need an ex- tra 478 parking spaces. 33% of all new development proposed in the Corinthia site, where development can rise to a maximum of 22 f loors, will be residential. The site, which presently consists only of ho- tels, has been allocated an ad- ditional 86,000 square metres earmarked for residential devel- opment together with 23,650 of office space. The Corinthia site's f loorspace will see an increase of 213% from a f loor space of 68,649 square metres to 215,000 square metres. The Corinthia site is projected to attract 1,304 new residents – which represents 28% of the total number of projected new residents in Paceville. The greatest increase in de- velopable f loorspace will take place in the ITS site, which will grow from 5,702 square metres to a staggering 142,000 square metres – an increase of 2,390%. On this site, where a maximum height of 30 f loors has been imposed, the breakdown of al- lowed development includes 42,600 square metres of residen- tial space, 63,900 of hotel space, 21,300 of office space and 8,498 of commercial space. The ITS site will have 646 new residents, 616 new hotel guests and 1,575 new employees. The Villa Rosa site which now includes three towers on the Cresta Quay coastal area, one of which rises to 30 storeys, will see an additional f loor space of 44,376 square metres of residen- tial development, 41,625 of hotel development and 5,550 square metres of office development. In this way Villa Rosa will grow from its current f loor space of 13,005 to 111,000 square metres – a staggering increase of 753%. The Villa Rosa development will require 1,498 parking spaces. The St George's Park site will see a decrease in the area al- located for hotel development (-47,373 square metres) and an increase in office space (+120,008 square metres) and residential development (+46,329 square metres). The site's developable f loor space will nearly double in size from the current 127,949 square metres to 233,000, thus becoming the second largest site after Portomaso. The Westin Dragonara will treble in size through the addi- tion of 6,200 square metres of residential and 67,086 square metres of hotel development. Mercury house which will host Paceville's highest skyscrap- er (34 f loors) seeing an extra 44,370 square metres of office space and 26,100 of residential development and would see its total f loor space area increase from just 11,081 square metres to 87,000, an increase of 685%. The development will require 2,442 parking spaces. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2016 News Paceville high-rise plan will require 15,000 new parking spaces Site Current floor area (sq.m) Proposed floor area (sq.m) % increase Portomaso 161,920 234,000 44.5 Saint George's Park 127,949 233,000 82.1 Corinthia 68,649 215,000 213.2 ITS 5,702 142,000 2,390 Westin 40,794 124,000 202.6 Villa Rosa 13,005 111,000 753.5 Mercury House 11,081 87,000 685.1 Business Center 3,405 26,314 672.8 Additional parking required (sq.m) St George's Park 4,200 Corinthia 2,959 Mercury 2,442 ITS 2,171 Villa Rosa 1,498 Westin 919 Business Centre 585 Portomaso 478