No development brief for ITS site

Negotiations with the Seabank Hotel’s owner for the concession 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 parameters for development of this site.

A Projects Malta tender for the site was issued before the revision of the area’s local plan, which started on 28 December, 2015, and which will change the parameters for development in the entertainment mecca to one aspiring to be a “quality” business hub.

The brief will also include a “strategy” on how to incorporate “tall buildings”.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Prime Minister justified the procedure omitting a development brief insisting that “the competitive process clearly determined the possible uses of the site, always subject to regulatory obligations". The spokesperson pointed out that the  process does not impinge in anyway on the autonomy of the planning regulator. "The risk to be borne by any proposal is always borne by proponents".

According to plans shown to clients and published in The Sunday Times, the forthcoming development will include two towers of 29 and 23 floors, and the group – Seaport Franchising – had confirmed allowing interested parties to reserve a property against a refundable deposit.

In the past, concessions granted for the Fort Cambridge development in Tigné were issued together with a development brief setting planning parameters, such as building heights, and determining 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 demolished 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 Gaspard Le Marchant (1803-1874), governor of Malta, are sculpted in franka stone on top of the ITS building. 

Although Grade 2 buildings cannot be demolished, internal alterations and changes are normally allowed. New development next to such buildings is not precluded.

The nearby Corinthia and Radisson 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 hotels, 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

While development on the ITS site was not envisaged in the local plan the proposed development in the Villa Rosa area was already foreseen in the local plan approved in 2006, which set detailed planning parameters for this project. But current changes to the local plan may prompt the developers to change their original plans.

In 2009 the company Vic Bon, owned by Anton Camilleri, purchased 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 scheduled villa from any development.

But the original plan now apparently replaced by a new project was a six-storey development, plus penthouse, on the southern edge of the site. The development 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 development and a car park will also be permitted on the northern edge of the site.

The plan foresees the development 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 cluster of 15 bungalows along the valley and more intense development in the area adjacent to the Bay Street complex. Moynihan House, a Victorian building, is also earmarked 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 building can be erected in the area as long as appropriate measures are taken.

Separate plans were presented 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 responsible for Projects Malta (which previously fell under Konrad Mizzi's health and energy portfolio), says that the concession for the ITS land was made in terms of a “request for tenders” but not regulated by the public procurement regulations. In fact an advert for a "request for proposals" the government had announced that the concession would be awarded to the successful proponent of the design, build and operation of an upmarket mixed tourism and leisure project."  Despite the law regulating concessions is not yet enacted, "the competitive process is in line with the legal principles enshrined the concessions directive approved by the EU in April 2014", the government spokesperson told MaltaToday.

The Malta Developers Association had questioned the way the tendering process was handled.

According to the MDA the tender, in fact, effectively resembled more a request for proposals (RFP) than a tender and there appears to have been confusion on this in the same tender document. The MDA argued that when a tender of this nature is issued, the Government should prepare a Development Brief in advance so that everyone will know clearly what can be built on the specific site.

"The tender system should not be used when there is a call for proposals and ideas, as appears to have been the case".

But according to the OPM “the terms of the concession are clearly outlined in the request for tender document, which provides for institutional guarantees, including the guaranteeing of a right of appeal to any interested party throughout the whole process". 

The MDA also criticised the government for not setting a minimum price for the concession in the tender itself. But the government spokesperson insisted that "this not being an outright sale of land but an emphyteutical concession the price component is determined by various factors, including a premium, ground rent, conversion rates and redemption of ground rent where this is permitted in terms of the request for tenders.

“That being said, the award of the concession, is not based solely on price but includes other factors, such as the economic benefit of the project and the creation of new touristic markets, and more importantly, jobs. As stated previously, independent experts are assisting the government in determining a fair value for site.”

In 2014 Developer Silvio Debono had revealed in an interview that he was working with government to find land for a Hard Rock hotel.  "We have been awarded best Hard Rock Café Franchise in the world and profit-wise we are one of the best. Now together with them we are looking to do a Hard Rock Hotel. We are looking with the government to see where the available land is".