Ta’ Dirjanu owner applies to demolish three adjacent townhouses

Mark Agius – owner of the Ta’ Dirjanu supermarket in Ghajnsielem and a business partner of construction magnate Joseph Portelli – has presented a planning application to demolish three existing town houses adjacent to the supermarket.

As presented, the application foresees three underground storeys for parking, three retail shops on the ground floor and 24 apartments on the overlying four storeys, one of which will be receded.

The buildings in question date back to the second half of the twentieth century and one includes a traditional stone balcony. They are situated in an area where the predominant building height is still two or three floors, outside the locality’s urban conservation area, which is located just 40 metres away.

The application does not foresee the retention of the buildings’ façades and if approved as proposed will create a blank party wall on both the supermarket and an adjacent dwelling.

Agius, who is known in Gozo by the name of the supermarkets founded by his mother, Ta’ Dirjanu, partners with property magnate Joseph Portelli on various development projects in both Gozo and Malta.