A planned mega-development of a 34-storey tower and two 27-storey ones overlooking St George’s Bay in St Julian’s would have major impacts on the environment and on air quality, both during construction and operation, according to a new report.

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project, proposed for the site of the scheduled early-20th century palazzo Villa Rosa, its garden and disused buildings nearby as well as a beach club across the bay, found that the likely impacts of the development, covering a total of almost 50,000 square metres, were “high”.

The proposed development would occupy two sites on the outskirts of Paceville.

The larger of the sites is currently occupied by Palazzo Villa Rosa together with a small hotel, a mix of retail and food & beverage (F&B) outlets as well as Dolphin House, which used to be a language school and Moynihan House, which is currently unused.

The other site is currently occupied by a beach club, Cresta Quay, and rocky terrain.  

The proposed development is being promoted by Anton Camilleri on behalf of Garnet Investments Limited which forms part of the AC Group of companies which is involved in property development, quarrying, and chainsaw cutting.

The project was designed by architect Colin Zammit of the Maniera Group, along with Dutch firm United Network Studio.

What the development would entail

On the Villa Rosa side, the proposed development is made up of three multi-use high-rises,  providing for a mix of tourism, business, commercial, recreation, and leisure uses.

The 34-storey tower with offices, an upscale hotel, and a number of serviced apartments will be connected to the other two interconnected 27-storey towers of serviced apartments.

The buildings will be connected through a low-rise building which serves as a multi-tiered landscaped piazza providing mostly pedestrianised space for the public and where retail and food and beverage outlets will be located.

On the Cresta Quay site, development will consist of a single-use low-rise waterfront hotel.

According to the plans, both hotels will have a total of 256 guestrooms/suites. A 132-room hotel on the Villa Rosa side and a 124-room resort on the Cresta Quay site, where non-residents would continue to have access to the seafront.

The development will have a total of almost 800 services apartments overlying a multi-storey car park for 1,365 cars.

According to the report, the proposed development is expected to create employment opportunities, during operations, for 2,259 persons.

Villa Rosa to be overshadowed

The villa and its grounds were designed by one of Malta′s more prominent early 20th-century architects, Andrea Vassallo, who made a name for himself as the designer of the domes of the San Gejtanu and San Nikola parish churches in Ħamrun and Siġġiewi respectively, the Il-Madonna ta′ Pinu Sanctuary in Għarb.

According to the report, excavations close to the villa and the Ħarq Ħammiem cave would require the use of chainsaws, to limit any possibility of damage.

The report found that the dominance of the palazzo on the landscape will be challenged by the presence of the two towers. It said that the level of significance of the impact would vary from “insignificant to high” depending on the quality of construction site management and recommended that archaeological monitoring is carried out during excavations.

According to the plans, the ceiling of the cave would be an average of 23m below the excavation level of the development.

In his report regarding the current proposal, a geological expert concluded that excavation “will be of no concern” and recommended that, here too, a chainsaw is used at the closest excavation line to introduce an air gap between the site to be excavated and the cave.

Significant impact on neighbours

The report found that the proposed development of such magnitude should be expected to bring a high impact on the Villa Rosa site, St George’s Bay and neighbouring areas. It said it was likely to affect those residences lying in closest proximity to the sites.

Residences located downwind of the prevailing north westerlies may be affected more than others, mainly due to contamination from fine dust, noise and vibrations. It recommended the use of air quality monitoring units.

This is a familiar issue for people living in the area: similar concerns were voiced by residents concerning another tower in the vicinity, built by db Group. Residents are currently locked in a court battle to halt that development.

Shadows created by the towers

The two locations in the bay area which need close attention with respect to the potential impact of the shadows of the Villa Rosa site tall buildings are the Wied Ħarq Ħammiem valley and the bay itself.

The level of sensitivity of the residents to the impact of shadows can be assumed to range between moderate to high, particularly between late autumn and winter, the shadow studies found.

The sandy beach starts being affected by the shadows of the Villa Rosa site buildings at about midday, with the impact being felt till the evening. From sunrise till about 3pm, the bay would be overshadowed by buildings to the south of the bay including the Cresta Quay hotel. The spread of the shadows decreases as the day progresses.

“Given that winter shadows are at their longest, one can safely assume that the level significance of the impact would be moderate to high with respect to residents, the valley, and the sandy beach – with the duration being on the short to moderate. On the other hand, the level of significance would be high on the marine water body during the first three/four hours of daylight,” the EIA states.

In spring and autumn, the Villa Rosa site buildings and other buildings located to the south would overshadow the valley till 10am, with the shadow of the North Cluster of the proposed development lasting till 1pm. Between sunrise and 11.30am, the North Cluster would overshadow parts of two Pembroke residential zones. The level of significance of these impacts on the valley and on residential development would vary from low to moderate, the EIA concluded.

The two high-rise towers would start affecting the bay at about 1pm when at 3pm, the shadow will be joined by that of the remaining tower until the bay will be completely in the shadow by 6pm.

The significance of the impact on the beach would range from moderate to high, depending on the time of day, the EIA concluded.

Wind conditions to be affected

The EIA concluded that the towers will make the area windy, especially in the winter months. However, it recommended planters and tall trees as mitigating factors.

The full EIA report and other environmental permitting documentation is available online.