Augustinians rented out to avoid telling Archbishop

Eden Leisure threatens legal action after accusing Augustinian monks of breaching ‘right of first refusal’ contract

Bay Street Holdings Lts have proposed a 12-storey complex on land in St Julian's belonging to the Augustinian order
Bay Street Holdings Lts have proposed a 12-storey complex on land in St Julian's belonging to the Augustinian order

A controversial business deal by the Augustinian Order of monks to rent out their St Julian’s grounds for the construction of a 12-storey hotel extension, could have been deliberately devised to evade oversight from the Maltese archdiocese. And across the street from where the monastery stands, a legal threat beckons: the Eden Leisure Group claims the Order had obliged itself to give it the right of first refusal on the land that has already been demolished for construction to start.

MaltaToday has learnt that the reason the Augustinian Order opted to rent out the land to the company Bay Street Holdings, which will construct the 12-storey extension to the Bay Street complex, was to evade an obligation to inform the Maltese archdiocese of the deal.

Only the effective sale of land has to be communicated to the Archbishop to obtain permission to proceed with the disposal of land for non-pastoral, social or educational reasons.

Indeed, the Church media was quick to report – days after MaltaToday broke news of the rental deal – that Archbishop Charles Scicluna was unaware of the deal.

Read more: Augustinians rent out St George’s Bay land to Bay Street for 12-storey hotel extension

The Order’s provincial, Fr Leslie Gatt, was asked about the obligation holy Orders have to communicate details of any land sales to the Archbishop.

“The province was never interested in selling land but to rent it out. For that matter there was no obligation of informing [the Archbishop],” Gatt answered when asked about the deliberate move to rent out the land instead of selling it.

The land, currently being used as a makeshift car park, is to make way for a 12-storey four-star accommodation building and office complex, that will be developed by Bay Street Holdings, whose owners include George Muscat of GAP Holdings, and Paul Camilleri.

Although Fr Leslie Gatt has not revealed any details on the rental deal, the matter is now under the review of the Church’s environment commission, on instruction of Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who acted on reports of MaltaToday about the rental deal. Fr Gatt has also said there is no financial arrangement for the Order to benefit from the sale or otherwise of any of the units in the complex to be built.

But now the Order has to contend with a legal challenge to its plans: because the Eden Leisure Group has submitted in court a contract it signed in 1988 with the Augustinians in which the Order bound itself to give the hoteliers right of first refusal should it transfer the land around the St Rita Church and monastery to any ‘non-religious’ third party.

Indeed, it turns out that the Order was already in talks with the Eden Leisure Group, which was planning to buy the land abutting on its own bowling alley and cinema.

In September 2017, the company learnt of plans by the Augustinians to transfer the land to another company, so it informed the province of whether it would be respecting Eden Leisure’s right of first refusal.

But, as emails filed in the court by Eden Leisure show, although the Augustinian Order “gave its word that none of its property would be transferred to third parties”, a planning application to demolish and excavate the parking lot was filed towards the end of 2017 by the new developers.

Eden Leisure said it only learnt later of the rental deal, protesting that it had not been given any notice of the plans so that it could exercise its right of first refusal. “The Order acted in bad faith with an evident breach of its obligations as laid down in the contract… this bad faith is quite evident when one considers that the Order is denying having held any discussions with Eden Leisure even though there is clear proof of this,” the company told the court in a judicial protest.

Indeed emails from 12 December 2017 reveal that the Order’s representatives actually denied having entered into any new obligations with a new company.

Read more: Archbishop asks church commission to look into Augustinian’s St George’s bay deal

The development will tower over the St George’s Road, and behind the monks’ convent and St Rita Chapel. The site area is of some 2,260sq.m, and will include 246 underground parking spaces.

Apart from its legal action, Simon Decesare, a member of the Eden Leisure Group, has filed an objection against the development because it is located in a residential buffer zone that is above the maximum four-storey height allowed by current policies.

He said the development would create a large, exposed blank party wall on St Augustine Street. “It also obstructs the view of the existing monastery on the adjacent site along Sqaq Lourdes. The same large exposed party wall is directly in front of the existing hotel rooms forming part of the five-star InterContinental Hotel. This will have a large impact on our hotel.”

Decesare said current planning policies precluded blank walls.

“The proposed development includes offices, entertainment areas and a large hotel complex. It will have a large impact on the area and will not serve as a buffer between the town and the entertainment centre of Paceville. On the contrary it is extending the hotel area and the entertainment area of Paceville adjacent to the residential area.”

Decesare insisted that the residential buffer zone should only have development with a minimal impact, especially in terms of noise and operating times.

Restoration concerns

Earlier in the month, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage informed the Planning Authority that the proposed development had to be referred to the PA’s cultural heritage advisory committee.

The development lies in the immediate vicinity of the Grade 2 scheduled property of architectural value – namely the convent of St Augustine and St Rita Chapel – while a recent permit approved the dismantling and reassembly of the scheduled staircase to the convent.

During a joint site inspection on 15 December 2017 by the Superintendence and advisory committee on the dismantling of the stairs, the developers’ architect drew attention to the fact that the restoration of the scheduled Convent and Chapel also forms part of the wider scope of the project.

“So far no application has been submitted for the restoration of the Scheduled Grade 2 religious building. It was not clear at the time of inspection as to what the ‘project’ was, which later materialised to be that of PA 10598/17. The proposed height and proximity of the development will dwarf the scheduled property and continue to detract it from its original context, further rescinding the heritage value of the property,” the Superintendence warned.

Indeed, the adjacent buildings of the Eden cinema and bowling complex are constructed to a lower level than the building height for the proposed development.

“The building potential above the bowling complex shown in the 3D views submitted has not yet been committed. Consequently, the impact of the proposed towering structure on the scheduled property and open space will be greater,” the Superintendence warned.