Joseph Portelli seeks to demolish Balzan pasta factory for five-storey block
New building would include showroom, shops and residences
Developer Joseph Portelli has submitted an application to demolish a distinctive former pasta factory in Balzan and replace it with a five-storey residential and commercial block.
If the application – PA/00505/26 - is approved, the Macaroni Premier factory on Triq in-Naxxar in Balzan would be knocked down and replaced with two basement levels for garages, a ground-floor level housing a showroom, retail space and cafeteria, and 29 residential units from the first floor upwards, including two penthouses with pools at receded floor level.
A permit to develop the site was first issued in 2009, although that permit was for six storeys. It was then renewed in 2013 and 2018.
In previous renewal applications, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage did not raise a specific objection, but flagged that the proposal could not be properly assessed within the confines of a renewal application.
What the proposed building would look like when viewed from Naxxar Road. Photo: Planning AuthorityAnother Portelli-linked permit application in Balzan is the subject of controversy. Filed by Clifton Cassar on behalf of CF Homes Ltd, a subsidiary of a company owned by Portelli, it seeks to build 102 apartments, 132 basement garages, 15 shops, two offices and two terraced houses on the site of the former Dolphin Complex.
The almost 4,000 square metre site straddles Triq il-Kbira, Triq Guzeppi Frendo and Triq Wied Ħal Balzan.
That application is the latest chapter in a saga of proposed development projects at the site, following similar, less ambitious applications in 2020 and 2021.