The European Commission will be reviewing the details of the proposed construction of four high-rise towers, one of them 19 storeys high, on the site of the former Mistra village in Xemxija.
Green Party Chairperson Dr Harry Vassallo said the European Commission would be taking the matter up to seek clarifications from the government over the project, after registering a complaint on the development.
The proposal is already deemed to have an “adverse impact on landscape views” from Mistra Bay, according to the environmental planning statement on the planning application.
But the project is itself limited by the local plan, which limits development in the area to eight storeys.
Developers are however applying the Floor Area Ratio – which involves minimising the sprawl of development by concentrating it in higher buildings. The development will dominate the skyline from St Paul’s Bay and the Pwales and Mistra valleys.
The project will be located over the Bajda Ridge, an area designated as an Area of High Landscape Value. The EPS says the scheme is considered to “detrimentally affect the landscape in a major way.”
Developers Gemxija Crown will be financing the project through Kuwaiti property developers Massaleh, building 1,000 residential units set on four towers ranging from 12 to 19 storeys, and 4,500 square metres of retail and catering outlets, and 2,202 underground parking spaces. Gemxija Crown Ltd’s main shareholders are JPM Brothers Ltd – owned by Jeffrey and Peter Montebello – and Amsterdam-based Marem BV. The company’s directors are former Central Bank governor Francis Vassallo, Al Massaleh’s vice-chairman Najeeb Al Saleh and Ahmad Al Hassan, Jeffrey and Peter Montebello, and Stephen McCarthy, a director of Union Print.
The former Corinthia Mistra Village complex was originally built in a traditional Maltese village style over an area of 39,000 square metres, with buildings covering just 11,165 sq.m.
The Mistra area is also considered to be of high archaeological significance, as documented by archaeologist David Trump. Recently discovered Roman baths lie in the immediate vicinity of the area and there are actually tombs in the cliff face below Mistra Village itself. The site also has one of the last surviving British period grain stores and underground mills located right underneath.
But the biggest fear is the traffic congestion that is likely to be created in Xemxija Hill, already a main traffic artery connecting the island to the north and Gozo.