12-storey tower block proposed on GasanMamo corner site in Gzira

A 12-storey office block is being proposed at the corner intersection between Enrico Mizzi Street and Msida Road, instead of the current GasanMamo office block in Gzira.

The building will face the enormous hole left by excavations for the 33-storey tower proposed by Libyan businessman Jalal Husni Bey, which when completed will have a dramatic impact on the Maltese skyline.

The GasanMamo office block will expand into an adjacent block that once hosted the notorious Tripoli Bar, which until the mid-noughties was synonymous with prostitution until the sex trade in the area was displaced by massage parlours.

The planning application, presented by GasanMamo Insurance Ltd, foresees the demolition of the corner office block to include three basement car-park levels, six levels of 542sq.m open-plan offices from the ground floor, and small 146sq.m offices from levels seven to 12.

An artist's impression

However, the site is not surrounded by four streets and does not create additional open space as required by the Floor Area Policy which regulates the development of buildings over 10 storeys. In fact the development is being proposed as a “landmark corner office block.”

Development guidelines approved in 2015 allow an increase in building heights in corner sites justified by the role of these buildings in giving “legibility to a street and neighbourhood.”

While the Metropolis development remains incomplete, the area has attracted three other high-rise developments.

The highest building is being proposed by developer Michael Stivala which is being proposed in Testaferrata street in Ta’ Xbiex. The development includes a 22-storey business tower.

A 14-storey tower is also being
proposed on the site of the Paul & Rocco petrol station. And an 18-storey tower was also originally proposed on the Wembley factory but this has now been reduced by half to nine storeys.

Photomontages have recently been submitted showing the new building being dwarfed by the gigantic Metropolis tower. Gzira is already the site of the 22-storey high 14 East tower block which is now awaiting a permit for a nine-metre high communication mast.

Further away a 29-storey high-rise is being proposed on the site of the Golden Harvest factory near St Albert street. The PA has already approved the demolition of the factory.