Portelli files plans for 30-apartment Xemxija block with six rooftop pools

Developer Joseph Portelli has filed plans for a 30-apartment block with six rooftop swimming pools in Xemxija, up the road from an area already being developed by his company.

The application (PA/03942/26), submitted on April 8, consists of private garages, an office, three ground-floor maisonettes, 30 apartments and six penthouses with a swimming pool each. It is awaiting recommendation.

The architect on the application is Claude Mallia, who chaired the Planning Commission until 2022.

Documents on the Planning Authority website show that Enemalta is demanding that a substation be integrated into the development to meet the electricity supply requirements for such a development.

On June 11, Enemalta filed an objection to the development because the substation, as proposed, does not meet its requirements.

The proposed project, featuring six penthouses with pools.

The project is the second Portelli-linked development in the same Xemxija road. As a shareholder in the company Trivium, he is already developing a nearby site approved for garages, two shops and 44 overlying apartments with swimming pools.

Part of the road next to that construction site caved in on April 2, weeks after a stop-work order was issued on demolition works there.

A spokesperson for Portelli said at the time that the collapse was caused by water ingress through natural fissures in the rock.

Several big-name developers have set their eyes on developments in the area.

Xemxija Estate Ltd, owned by Polidano Group, plans to turn a large undeveloped plot in the area into a 12-storey commercial and residential complex. The application is undergoing a screening process.

Polidano Group also holds permits to build two more apartment blocks in the area. One of the developments will consist of 25 apartments and a penthouse with a swimming pool, while the other foresees two duplex maisonettes, five apartments and a duplex penthouse.