Eight-storey office, mall and supermarket for Toyota showroom

Four blocks ranging from three to eight storeys in height are being earmarked for the site of the Toyota showroom in Ħaż-Żebbuġ, just 126 metres from the De Rohan arch.

The Environment and Resources Authority is currently assessing which environmental studies are required to determine the impact of the Michael Debono Limited project.

The project includes a four-storey mall, with supermarket, a six-storey car park for 384 spaces, an eight-storey office building, and another retail and office block of three storeys.

There will be an overall 20,500sq.m of offices, 6,300sq.m in retail, over 1,100sq.m for food and beverage establishments and a 961sq.m supermarket.

The project will excavate 27,000 cubic meters of limestone, with the applicant exploring the potential for reuse of the rock, on and off-site. Earlier plans for a 45m high-rise were scrapped. The three basement levels were reduced to one for 60 parking spaces.

The entire 11,000sq.m site currently hosts the Toyota showroom and automative service stations.

Michael Debono Limited’s project statement from ADI environmental consultancy, warns of the increase in density and overall height of the project, particularly the highest, 30m-high building that will “extend the view-shed of the development”  with implications on views from the north and east, where Triq L-Imdina is elevated.

The statement calls for greater consideration on the impact of the setting of the Grade 1 scheduled De Rohan Arch, located just 126m away, as well as the wayside chapel immediately opposite, despite this heritage feature already “somewhat compromised by the development permitted around it”.

The study makes no reference to the heritage value of the modernist showroom earmarked for demolition, which back in 2019 was opposed by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage which had suggested restoration and integration in any new project. The showroom had even been proposed for scheduling by the PA’s cultural heritage advisory committee, which is chaired by the Superintendent for Cultural Heritage.

The development’s major impact will come from increased emissions from the daily, average increase of 1,494 car trips. The study calls for careful consideration of traffic impacts, with measures to encourage green mobility, and to reduce the volume of private cars.

The showroom is located in the Ħal-Mula Mixed-use Area, zoned for “retail uses, including showrooms and supermarkets, offices, food and drink outlets, assembly and leisure uses, and industrial uses and warehousing.”

Luke Coppini, CEO for the group’s property arm, said the project was “a well-needed enhancement to the quality of life of the Żebbuġ community” which would fuel the regeneration of the entire Ħal Mula area.