Fortina requests two more storeys on Tigné block

Four years after being granted a permit for a 15-storey apartment block next to its tower hotel, the Fortina Group has presented new plans for an additional two storeys and an extension of the uppermost floors.

As approved in 2018, the Fortina development consisted of a 15-storey residential and commercial block apart from the addition of five storeys to its pre-existing hotel tower. The height of the 23-storey hotel will remain unchanged in the latest application.

The group contends that the two additional floors in the residential block will still be within “the developable floor area” established in the previous permit.

The new plans also envisage an extension of the two already approved uppermost floors, increasing the bulk of the project.

Other requests include changing an approved cafeteria at ground floor and five approved residential units at the first floor, into a new retail unit.

The application foresees the integration of the landscaped area around St Luke’s Garrison Chapel and the vacant plot between the chapel and the MIDI project, into the project’s open space area. This will also result in the removal of the high wall separating the two projects and the construction of interconnecting staircases.

After assessing the latest set of photomontages of the project, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage objected to the intensification of the development, warning that the proposed increase in height and volume “whilst relatively minor when compared to already approved commitments”, will nonetheless “increase the impact the backdrop of the skyline as seen from the Cottonera and inner harbour areas.”

Fortina bought the land from the government nearly three decades ago on condition that it would be developed it only for tourism purposes. But a parliamentary resolution approved in 2019 allowed the company to build apartments and commercial development.

Fortina was asked to pay €8.1 million within 10 years for the lifting of these restrictions, based on a valuation carried out by the Lands Authority.