.png)
Mepa turns down large residential project in St. Paul's Bay
A residential project comprising of 59 apartments and 74 lock up garages which was proposed to be carried out on a large site behind the protected building and gardens of Villa Chapelle in St. Paul’s Bay was today turned down by the MEPA Board because the entire development was too cumbersome resulting in overdevelopment.
Although the proposal included the restoration and reuse of the Villa into a Beauty Parlour, the Board concluded that holistically this project was too intensive and was not ensuring the sustainable development of the site. The proposed development included the construction of four internal residential blocks between Triq Ramon Perellos and Triq il-Mosta. On this site, MEPA had issued an outline development permit in 1998 and renewed it in 2004 and agreed in principle to the construction of 28 residential units and 53 parking spaces.
Villa Chapelle was built by Baron Francis Chapelle at the turn of the 20th century, as a summer family home. This prominent Art Nouve building with its mature gardens is a landmark and architecturally unique in St Paul’s Bay. The Authority had scheduled the Villa and its surrounding grounds as a Grade 2 on the 17th April 1998.
