Metropolis project in Gżira to add hotel after 17-year delay

A new planning application (PA 6474/25) proposing major changes to the long-pending Metropolis project in Gżira would consolidate the previously approved three-tower development into a single high-rise structure incorporating hotel accommodation on the lower floors alongside residential and commercial uses.

Although the first permit was issued in 2009 the site remains a 6,000sq.m excavation hole with only limited underground parking works being undertaken in the past years.

The application, once again submitted by Libyan entrepreneur Galal Ibrahim Husni Bey and designed by architect Edwin Mintoff, seeks changes to the mixed-use development approved under earlier permits.

The proposal covers the site bounded by Triq Enrico Mizzi in Gżira, Triq Testaferrata in Ta’ Xbiex, Triq Giorgio Mitrovich and Triq D’Argens in Msida. It includes hotel and residential units, commercial and ancillary facilities, underground parking and the sanctioning of basement parking layouts.

Plans filed with the application show a single tower rising to around 34 floors. The original approved scheme consisted of three towers of 13, 27 and 34 storeys. While the overall height appears broadly comparable to the tallest approved structure, the new proposal consolidates the massing into a more centralised and bulkier tower and introduces hotel use in addition to the previously approved residential, office and retail components.

The Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) has flagged the revised proposal for further environmental assessment.

In its consultation response, ERA noted that the approved development had been subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment carried out in 2007 and updated in 2008. The authority observed that the new application proposes consolidating the development into a larger centralised tower and introducing an additional land use, while also affecting the overall concentration of massing on site.

ERA requested a statement from the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment coordinator to determine whether the proposed changes could affect the findings of the earlier studies. It also asked for a detailed comparison of gross floor areas between the approved and proposed developments, broken down by land use and supported by drawings. The authority said the application should await the outcome of this assessment to determine whether updated environmental studies are required.

In its initial reaction the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage warned that the revised development could affect culturally significant and strategic views, particularly towards Valletta. It requested photomontages comparing approved and proposed schemes from key viewpoints, including the University of Malta quadrangle and several Grand Harbour locations, to assess visual impact before issuing further comments.

Original permit issued in breach of local plan policy

The site is also sensitive in planning policy terms because it falls within an area where the local plan includes provisions intended to safeguard views from the University of Malta towards Valletta and Marsamxett Harbour. These policies identify strategic view corridors and state that development likely to have a detrimental effect on such views should be refused.

Policy NHSE 08 clearly states the PA should “refuse development permission for any proposed development that is likely to have a detrimental effect on strategic view.” And NHSE 07 lists four so-called “Strategic View Corridors” which are clearly identified in Map SE2 as “skylines that should not be significantly disrupted by new development, especially high buildings”.

The policy states that where “deemed necessary by the PA, applicants shall be required to provide photomontages in order to prove that the new development will not significantly disrupt the identified building planes and skylines”.

The impact of the Metropolis development on the view from the university to Valletta was key to the approval of Micheal Stivala’s tower along Testaferrata Street. Photomontages published in 2022 showed the new 17-floor tower ‘hidden’ by the yet-to-be-built Metropolis Tower when viewed from the University of Malta.

In its assessment of Stivala’s application, the Superintendence for Cultural noted “that the tower will be screened from viewpoints captured from the University Quadrangle by the approved adjacent development, the Metropolis tower which is considerably higher than what is being proposed in this application”.

Despite the inactivity on the site, the Metropolis project has a long planning history stretching over two decades with the project initially hailed by the Gonzi administration as a game changer for the area.

The development was originally approved for a mixed-use complex including residential units, offices, retail outlets and underground parking. Excavation works were carried out but construction stalled, leaving a large pit on the prominent site for years.

The 2009 permit for 191 residential units, with offices and retail, and a supermarket was renewed in November 2013; a year later, the PA granted it more parking spaces, and increased office space from 4,600sq.m to 7,815sq.m, with apartments going down to 110. A helipad and communal outdoor swimming pool were added to two towers.

Days before the 2015 local elections, prime minister Joseph Muscat officially laid the foundation stone for the high-rise – years after excavation had taken place – but since then the project has lain dormant.

The permit then expired in September 2020, but new planning rules allowed the extension of permits throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, the Planning Authority renewed the permit for a further five years, allowing the development to remain valid despite prolonged inactivity. The latest application now seeks to significantly reconfigure that approved project by replacing the three-tower layout with a single high-rise building that introduces hotel accommodation while retaining a similar overall height. The proposal is currently at the initial screening stage pending further assessment.