Go Exchange to make way for 127 apartments and 11 shops

Excel Investments, the company owned by Gozitan developer Joe Portelli, has presented its plans for a replacement residential and commercial development on the site of the Go Exchange building in Birkirkara

Excel Investments, the company owned by Gozitan developer Joe Portelli, has presented its plans for a replacement residential and commercial development on the site of the Go Exchange building in Birkirkara.

A separate application for its demolition was presented a few days ago without any details on the replacement building.

As proposed the development will consist of 11 retail shops at ground floor level, 14 maisonettes, 96 apartments and 17 penthouses with pools, as well as two levels of underground parking consisting of 174 spaces.

The application includes plans for a public, pedestrianised piazza and a new access from Psaila Street for ambulances and fire vehicles, which will bisect the site and enable development around it. A zoning application for this aim has also been submitted.

The GO Exchange Building fronts Psaila Street and two other residential roads in the vicinity of the local secondary school which are characterised by low density residential development.  The site does not enjoy any level of protection apart and lies outside the historical core of the locality. But MaltaToday is informed that parts of the building including a switch room, which may be of interest as part of Malta’s communication history.