Gozitan construction magnate Joseph Portelli has requested a permit to add an extra floor to the hotel he is building in Paceville and to make several alterations to the Mercury Towers project.
The developer wants to add 10 hotel rooms to the permitted 130 through an increase in the height of the hotel from 19 storeys to 20.
At the same time, he wants to raise the height of the Mercury Suites residential block by 900mm and reduce the number of apartments from the permitted 428 to 419.
No explanation was given to the Planning Authority, at least in publicly available documents.
The permit application, which is expected to be determined by the Planning Authority board later this month, also seeks permission to add a swimming pool at roof level on the residential block.
Portelli’s company, J. Portelli Projects, describes Mercury Towers as its “most ambitious undertaking to date”. Portelli commissioned the internationally renowned Zaha Hadid Architects to design the high-rise tower. This commission was one of the final concept designs signed off by Zaha Hadid personally days before her death in 2016.
Mercury Towers is a mixed-use development with a mix of historical and contemporary edifices on its site. At its heart is a 19-century heritage building, the historic Mercury House, which used to be a telephone exchange, that will be flanked by a 33-storey residential tower and a luxury five-star ME by Meliã, a hotel brand of Meliã Hotels International.
The target date for its opening is September, although it will be launched gradually over six months. Once fully operational in early 2024, Mercury Towers promises to evolve into a vibrant new quarter encompassing accommodation, shopping, dining, entertainment, residential and wellness facilities.
The Planning Authority granted Portelli a permit in December 2020, when it approved plans for the 19-storey hotel instead of what was planned to be a five-storey structure, alongside a tower, which was by then already at an advanced stage of construction and which had been given a permit to grow by an additional two floors to 33.
Also approved were a new nine-storey residential block and a bigger underground car park with 717 parking slots.
In August last year, the developer applied to allow several variations to the original plans green-lighted by the PA.
These include the introduction of an access point and a glass balustrade at the roof level of the Mercury Residential Tower, the addition of a waste collection station at basement level, the reorganisation of the various uses and internal layouts, which include the transfer of additional floor space, previously forming part of the back of house, to the underground entertainment arena that comprises a go-kart track.
The application includes a request to relocate the gym and changing rooms, forming part of the hotel, to the basement, as well as the sanctioning of other modifications, including to the hotel lift core for an additional lift shaft, the addition of a lift core in the car park and retail floors, modifications to the approved lift cores in the Mercury Suites block and the increase in height of the retail floors.
The application was submitted by architect Annamaria Attard Montalto.
In her report, the case officer is recommending that the permit is granted against a fine of €150 for the sanctioning of illegal works, as well as the extension of the €233,000 bank guarantee.