Stivala seeks to sanction Sliema demolition and squeeze in two more hotel floors

Carlo Stivala wants to sanction the demolition of a building where he is building a hotel at Sliema's seafront and seeks to squeeze in an extra two floors while retaining the height of the previous permit.

The mega-developer, through the architecture firm Falzon & Cutajar, filed a new planning application (PA 771/26) to increase the number of hotel rooms from the approved 75 to 124. He will fit the 124 rooms across 17 storeys instead of 15, but retain the proposed height. 

The new plan also proposes the excavation of two basement levels to add a sauna and multipurpose hall at level -1, and ten garages at level -2.

The façade of the building, located on the corner of Triq ix-Xatt and Triq San Vincenz, which used to house the Labour Party club, was supposed to be retained and incorporated into the 15-storey hotel, according to the previous permit (PA 2965/23) that was granted last year.

Instead, this new application suggests that Stivala has breached the conditions of the initial permit and demolished the façade.

It is hard to see what is going on at the construction site as everything is covered by scaffolding and wooden panels. But when visiting the site, Times of Malta could observe, through a small opening in the panels, that the building, along with its façade, has been demolished.

A photo taken from a small opening showing that the building had been demolished. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had raised concern about the development, saying that the building they planned on turning into the hotel has a “degree of historical and architectural value”.

Drawings show that the new plan is to replace this demolished building with a more modern façade that incorporates floors that are shorter than they were before.

In doing so, Stivala will increase the number of floors from 15 to 17, while retaining the same height. But the new plan also includes having a demountable lightweight tent on the roof of the building that would increase the height by an extra floor.

Drawings showing the approved 15-storey hotel (left) compared to the new plans for a 17-storey hotel (right). Photo: Planning Authority

The new layout means that there will also be two restaurants at ground floor, 124 hotel rooms from level 1 to 15, a restaurant on the 16th floor, and a pool on the roof.

Plans to develop the site date back a few years.

In 2018, Stivala successfully applied to add additional floors to the three-storey building currently in place at number eight Triq San Vincenz, creating a nine-floor apartment block (PA/00918/18).

Then, in 2023, he applied to turn it into a 15-storey hotel. This application was very controversial and received over 600 objections from residents and NGOs who were concerned about how the hotel would tower over the residential houses in the vicinity.

While the application for the hotel was still pending, Stivala installed a large crane on Triq San Vincenz without a permit and blocked the street. It was later revealed that he was fined €1,500 for this.

In the adjacent street on Triq il-Lunzjata, Stivala is also in the process of constructing another 15-storey hotel, the permit for which was approved last year.