Karkanja applies to renew demolition of Golden Harvest site in Gzira

Karkanja has applied to renew a permit issued five years ago to demolish the Golden Harvest building in Gzira, originally earmarked for a high-rise development.

The renewal application replicates the one approved in 2018 and still refers to the demolition of the Golden Harvet factory site as the “first phase” of a “redevelopment project” connected to an application for the construction of two high rise towers, one of 13 and another of 29 floors.

But although the demolition of the building was approved in 2018, the developers had subsequently dropped the application envisaging the erection of two towers on the 2,688sq.m site. This means that currently there is no pending application to develop the area.

The permit for the demolition works is set to expire in August. The permit was limited to knocking down the existing buildings and did not foresee any excavations.

But while noting that the PA has already issued a permit for the  demolition five years ago, the Environment and Resources Authority has expressed its concern that  no details have been provided for the second phase of the project, which would include excavations and the construction of new buildings.

ERA is now demanding  a comprehensive  and phased masterplan “in order to assess the proposal holistically and to avoid piecemeal development”.

ERA has also asked for details on the projected increase in traffic flows created by the replacement building to assess its impact on air quality.

In 2017 Euchar Vella’s firm Karkanja, had proposed the construction of two interconnected towers – one rising to 13 storeys, and the higher one rising to 29. The project included 100 new residential units as well as a supermarket.

The Golden Harvest building fronts  Turu Colombo Squareand lies near the  Gzira secondary school along Triq Nazju Ellul and Triq Reid.

Back in 2017 the developers had argued that by proposing a high-rise development instead of developing the site in a conventional way, they would be creating a 2,000sq.m area of open spaces. But the application was later withdrawn, and no further applications have been submitted since then.