New plans for Marsaxlokk hotel on site of demolished heritage building

New plans have been submitted for the construction of a five-storey guesthouse instead of a scheduled building fronting the Marsaxlokk promenade which was illegally knocked down in 2010

New plans have been submitted for the construction of a five-storey guesthouse instead of a scheduled building fronting the Marsaxlokk promenade which was illegally knocked down in 2010.

In the latest plans the three extra storeys on top of the reconstructed two-storey building have been pushed back entirely on Triq is-Silġ, outside the urban conservation area (UCA) of Marsaxlokk, with the pool area being located on the roof on top of the two storeys overlooking the promenade.

Photomontages of the development suggest that the three top floors will not be visible from the underlying pavement and promenade but would still rise higher than any other building in the area when seen from a higher altitude.

The part of the building fronting Xatt is-Sajjieda was previously occupied by a protected building, which was illegally demolished in 2010.

The building was demolished after the police ordered the owner to remove dangerous structures due to falling masonry. Subsequently, a permit was issued allowing the owners to carefully dismantle a dangerous collapsed roof, but not the façade of the old building. But the building was instead demolished in its entirety.

But in 2017, the Planning Authority not only “sanctioned” the illegal demolition of the protected building against a planning contribution of €50,000, but allowed the owners to build a restaurant and an overlying maisonette in its place. The façade of the restaurant was to be an exact replica of the demolished building and had to be finished in pointed weathered stone and timber and glass apertures employed.

In its reaction to a visual impact assessment presented by the developers the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage “favourably” noted “the evolution in the facade’s design” overlooking Xatt is-Sajjieda, which now approximates the design approved in 2017, which is “evocative of the demolished historic façade".  Nevertheless, the SCH noted that the proposed glass railing is not in keeping with the surroundings.  Moreover the SCH is still objecting to development overlooking Triq tas-Silġ, describing the proposed transition into the UCA as “unacceptable”. The SCH called on the project’s architect to revise plans with more “appropriate terracing.”

The five-storey guesthouse is being proposed in between two protected two-storey buildings fronting the Marsaxlokk promenade, on the site where a protected building was illegally demolished over a decade ago.

But that illegal demolition was later ‘sanctioned’ – read, regularised – against a €50,000 fine in 2017, when the Planning Authority had issued a permit for a two-storey restaurant development.

The plot stretching between the picturesque Xatt is-Sajjieda and the residential Triq tas-Silġ, where the hotel is being proposed, is partly located in the Urban Conservation Area where development cannot surpass two floors.

The plans presented by the owners of the site, foresee the erection of three receded floors on the part of the plot which is outside the UCA boundary. A pool area is being proposed on the part of the building where the height is being limited to two storeys.

The application is one storey lower than that foreseen in an application refused back in 2017 due to its “unacceptable visual impact”.

The development is being proposed by Itaiana Abela, a director in FSH Fashion Retail Ltd and Cieffe Projects, both owned by F Schembri Holdings.