Nine-storey block proposed instead of Pietà BOV branch

A nine-storey-high residential block consisting of 24 apartments is being proposed instead of the Bank of Valletta branch in Pietà, opposite the Msida Creek garden.

The development will consist of a ground floor level to accommodate 13 parking spaces, a retail shop, seven floors of apartments and a receded floor on which three penthouses are planned.

In the application, developer Michael Bugeja, a director and owner of the Bilom Group, has declared owning the entire site. The site is presently occupied by the two-storey-high Bank of Valletta branch and is sandwiched between two six-storey blocks.

Plans show the new building rising one to two floors higher than adjacent buildings.

The local plan sets a building height of six floors with a semi basement in this area of Msida and Pietà. This translates into a street façade height—excluding the penthouse level—of 25.6m, according to present policies. No excavations are being proposed in the flood prone area.