Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/748968
4 CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 They also claim that the masterplan ignores previous commitments (included in the tender for Mercury House) to "create a major public plaza in the area surrounding Mercury House so as to create a high qual- ity public space for the whole of Paceville." Instead the masterplan proposes to "appropriate" an area of a simi- lar size in St Georges Park for the same purpose. The plan justifies the choice by saying that this is will create a long view to the listed Spinola Entrenchment Archway which will provide an impressive back- drop to the plaza with the sea visible beyond the historic gate. But the St George's Park owners claim that they were not given the same treatment given to Mercury House, which will enjoy straight- line views. Moreover they point out that since the St George's Park site lies on a higher terrain than the rest of Paceville, it will be impossible to achieve the views promised by the masterplan. Noting that the Mercury House site belongs to "Mott Macdonald's clients" the owners of St George's Park said that the switch in the location of the Paceville Plaza "can hardly be viewed as anything short of self serving." The owners have accused the consultants of favouring the Mer- cury House site noting that while the curved skyline model envis- aged by the masterplan implies that the tallest building will be at St George's Park, they still allocat- ed the tallest building (35 storeys) to Mercury Houses. The report also notes other con- tradictions in the masterplan, like avoiding tall buildings on the coast while still proposing 3 tow- ers in the Cresta Quay area. According to the masterplan St George's Park site will see a de- crease in the area allocated for hotel development (-47,373 square metres) and an increase in of- fice space (+120,008 square me- tres) and residential development (+46,329 square metres). The site's developable floor space will nearly double in size from the current 127,949 square metres to 233,000, thus becoming the second largest site after Porto- maso. Three tall buildings rising to a maximum of 34 floors are en- visaged on this site. The tallest towers on the site will be located adjacent to Pace- ville Plaza. According to the re- port this not only fits within the overall Paceville skyline strategy, but also provides a marker for the centre of Paceville - adjacent to the plaza. Building heights then step down towards the east and north. Mercury house which will host Paceville's highest skyscraper (35 floors) seeing an extra 44,370 square metres of office space and 26,100 of residential development and would see its total floor space area increase from just 11,081 square metres to 87,000, an in- crease of 685%. The development will require 2,442 parking spaces. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2016 News Dwarna with Mariella Dimech every Tuesday at 21.00 on TVM2 Mercury House owners seek permit JAMES DEBONO GOZITAN entrepreneur Joe Portelli, the sole owner of Mer- cury Contracting Projects Ltd, which will build the Mercury House high-rise, has requested a permit to demolish the Paceville telephone exchange building, excavate the site and construct a boundary wall along St George's Road. It is on this site, which Portelli currently co-owns with telecoms company GO plc, that the con- troversial Paceville masterplan has earmarked a 35-floor high- rise that will serve as a "prime office location" for the coastal town, the highest of nine towers projected for the area. Residential uses will be mostly located in another tower with re- tail shops and a hotel providing complementary uses at podium levels. Mercury House will see an ex- tra 44,370 square metres of office space and 26,100 square metres of residential development, to see its total floor space area increase from just 11,081 square metres to 87,000, an increase of 685%. The development will require 2,442 parking spaces. In June, five months before the masterplan was presented, Por- telli had already presented an application on another area pres- ently occupied by a few residential villas next to the Intercontinental Hotel, which has also been iden- tified for "mixed development" in the Paceville masterplan. The application for the 'Gate- way' high-rise envisages the pro- posed demolition of an existing villa, the construction of four lev- els of underground car park, and 15 floors of development con- sisting of a hotel with amenities, retail outlets, office space and 50 studio apartments. Portelli has now presented a new application to commence the first stage of this "compre- hensive project" which includes the excavation of four levels of parking and the demolition of ex- isting dwellings. This area has also been identi- fied in the Paceville masterplan for mixed-use development in- cluding office use, hotel uses and residential apartments. The floor area will grow on this site will grow from just 3,405 square me- tres to 26,314 square metres – an increase of 672%. The masterplan states that de- velopment in the area should "comprise a relatively low rise building complex". However, "an important local landmark" wel- coming people into Paceville can also be proposed. The Paceville masterplan was devised by global consultants Mott MacDonald and Broadway Malyan. But Mott MacDonald had previously provided prelimi- nary, high-level advisory work for the proposed Mercury Tower in PA consultants accused of favouring Mercury House project The Archway will provide an impressive backdrop to the plaza with the sea visible beyond the historic gate