Mega-developer Carlo Stivala has been given the go-ahead to build a 15-storey hotel on the Sliema seafront following a Planning Authority (PA) board decision on Thursday.

The construction mogul had first obtained permission to demolish the former bank building on the corner of Triq ix-Xatt and Triq il-Lunzjata and rebuild it into an eight-floor apartment block in 2013.

Three years later, the Planning Authority approved a new permit to add a ninth floor to the building and in 2023, Stivala applied to turn the project into a 15-floor development featuring a hotel and restaurant.

That latest application, which made use of a PA policy allowing hotels to rise two floors above the maximum building height limit in the area, was approved Thursday following a favourable recommendation in January.

Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) coordinator Astrid Vella, who was present for the board meeting, said the application was approved by nine votes to one, with only the NGO representative voting against the plans.

The PA board is comprised of a chairperson, a Labour Party representative, a representative of the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), public officers, a representative for NGOs and, for major projects, a representative chosen by the local council. The Nationalist Party, which can also nominate a representative to the board, has not done so in recent years. 

Commenting on the board decision, Vella said she had been “shocked to hear members of Malta’s supposed regulatory body justifying illegal development”.

 “FAA maintains that the design is totally lacking in any aesthetic features and the abusive height facing an urban conservation area should never have been sanctioned,” she said.

Vella added that the “extra floors built without a permit” had “thrown nearby older townhouses into deep shade”.

Members of Malta’s supposed regulatory body justifying illegal development

The PA decision comes just weeks after Stivala controversially installed a large crane on nearby Triq San Vincenz – without a required Transport Malta permit – provoking the ire of residents who complained of reduced parking and other inconveniences.

The permit for the crane, while ostensibly attributing it to a separate Stivala development on Triq San Vincenz, prophetically also marked the site approved this week as a development area.

€48,000 fine

The approval also comes two months after FAA accused Stivala of having already built 13 of the 15 storeys, despite only holding a permit for nine at the time.

The mega-developer had insisted critics had miscalculated the height of the construction, however, arguing they had incorrectly compared it to an older nine-storey adjacent building.

Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar had accused developer Carlo Stivala of building 13 floors while only having a permit for nine.

While minutes for the board meeting approving the development were not yet available at the time of publication, minutes from an earlier meeting last month indicated a fine of over €48,000 was due if the project was approved due to the application including sanctioning.

MTA did not require loading bays

The minutes also revealed that when answering questions about loading bays, one of the project’s architects, Ian Cutajar, had said that if needed, they could be placed outside the hotel, “as there is no requirement for them to be on the premises”.

Development Management Directorate – a section of the PA – representative Bernard Ferry said that while loading bays were “typically required” by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), “in this case, the MTA left the decision to the hotel operator”, according to the minutes.

The Development Management Directorate is tasked with the “promotion and control of proper land development... in accordance with approved policies and plans”, according to the public works website.