Metropolis permit in Gżira renewed for five more years

The Planning Authority has renewed a 2009 permit for the three high-rise towers in Gzira of 13, 27 and 33 storeys, proposed by Libyan magnate Husni Bey.

The site on Testaferrata Street is currently a massive 6,000sq.m hole excavated over a decade ago, and whose permit was last renewed in 2014.

Despite 14 years of inactivity, the Metropolis tower permit was renewed in a fast-track “summary” procedure approved over 42 days. No case officer report was presented to assess whether the project is still in conformity with planning policies, despite reports of the tower being in breach of local plan policies that protect the view of Valletta as seen from the University of Malta heights.

The PA said the ‘Type 11’ summary procedure for renewals, unlike other applications, does not require a case officer’s report. Bey’s architect Edwin Mintoff requested fast-tracking by telling the PA the Metropolis application “complies with relevant applicable plans, policies and regulations.” The renewal was also green lit by the PA’s design advisory committee, which said it was “not averse to the proposal strictly from a design point of view”.

Massive visual impact

The three-tower structure will dominate views of Manoel Island, as confirmed in a visual assessment from 2017 by the 14 East developers.

And in another visual assessment from the neighbouring ST Tower, it has been shown that the Metropolis monolith will disrupt the protected University-Valletta visual corridor.

Photomontages from the ST Tower application suggest the Metropolis tower was approved in breach of policies NHSE 7 and 8 – ST Tower will in fact be ‘hidden’ by the yet-to-be built Metropolis when seen from the University heights, blocking the protected visual corridor that should leave untouched the views of Valletta.

But even in the absence of Metropolis, the ST Tower sticks out like a sore thumb when seen from this protected view.

The PA is bound by NSHE 8 to “refuse development permission for any proposed development that is likely to have a detrimental effect on strategic view.” Four so-called “Strategic View Corridors” are clearly identified as “skylines that should not be significantly disrupted by new development, especially high buildings”.

One of the strategic views identified was the visual corridor linking the University of Malta site to Tignè Point, Marsamxett Harbour and Valletta. Developers in this case must provide photomontages “in order to prove that the new development will not significantly disrupt the identified building planes and skylines,” according to PA policies.

But as a PA spokesperson confirmed, no visual assessment is required as part of the permit renewal.

Double renewal

Although the project was first approved in 2009, the only work done on the site was a 6,000sq.m hole for a prospective 500-space car park.

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.