Gutenberg Press has filed an application to turn its printing press building just off Tal-Barrani in Tarxien into a shopping complex, including a supermarket.
The 6,000 square metre site, for which the printing press filed an outline permit application, lies outside the development zone.
It lies just one kilometre away from the LIDL supermarket on Tal-Barrani and a stone's throw away from Scott's Supermarket.
Gutenberg Press Ltd’s Frank Spiteri applied for permission to demolish the printing press, currently on two storeys, and replace it with a three-storey complex above street level and four floors below.
The proposed project includes an underground car park with 290 parking spaces, commercial storage, a supermarket, several retail outlets covering over 17,000 square metres, catering and entertainment facilities, an area of light industrial use and ancillary administration offices.
The site is adjacent the Gondolier Hall, the place of worship used by River of Love. Its controversial pastor, Gordon Manché, recently unsuccessfully applied for permission to extend the premises, just months after getting the green light for its use change from a wedding hall. The application was filed on behalf of his voluntary organisation Nations for Christ Ministries.
Manché wanted to extend the first floor of Gondolier Hall into a multi-purpose hall. He also sought a permit for minor internal alterations at the ground floor and first floor.
Just over one kilometre away from the proposed Gutenberg supermarket, the Planning Authority last month granted a permit to Schembri Barbros Ltd to demolish its structures and construct a commercial hub within the committed containment area. The permit includes parking facilities, retail outlets, ancillary facilities and landscaping area. The LIDL supermarket already occupies part of the site. A project description statement prepared by consultants AIS advocated for the project intended to provide “a landmark retail and leisure park, the first one of its size and concept in the south of Malta” with the main aim of “creating a holistic experience for the family”.
“Experiences gained from other commercial complexes located elsewhere on the island have shown that the success rate of these complexes is very high and this in view of the fact that such complexes can provide various services from a single location with easy access and adequate parking provision which is generally lacking in other commercial outlets located within town centres,” the statement read.
“The development of such retail parks in areas which are already committed as areas of containment will ensure that town centres are relieved from parking pressures and traffic congestions, and will potentially lead to the re-organisation of town and village centres through improved pedestrianisation, landscaping and outside living,” it continued.
It said another major benefit was the complete removal of a construction industry located just 200 metres from the residential area.