Hotel on stilts proposed on Townsquare project’s garden

A proposed hotel within the high-rise Town Square development in Sliema will occupy a space previously designated as a pavilion in the garden, plans for the new project show.  

The hotel, planned to reach eleven stories, will be constructed on stilts to allow the garden to “continue underneath the hotel”. 

The developer’s environmental consultants, ADI, specify in a memo detailing project changes that the hotel will have a 148sq.m reception area on the first two levels.  

Plans as approved in 2019 (as amended in 2021) compared to latest plans showing hotel being proposed on previously approved open space

This design allows the garden to continue underneath the hotel, while the hotel rooms will begin from the second level and extend up to the ninth floor, ultimately reaching the eleventh floor, covering a larger area of more than 400 sq.m. 

According to the memo, the addition of a new hotel instead of the pavilion could affect some of the short distance views but the change is not considered to be significant. 

Other changes outlined in the document include a direct connection between Qui-Si-Sana Lane and Villa Drago and the removal of the car park entrance on Hughes Hallet Street.  

All traffic will now access the site via Triq Qui-Si-Sana. 

Furthermore, the topmost recessed level of the high-rise tower has been converted into a full floor, and the level above it is now a recessed floor level. Consequently, the tower's height will increase from 27 to 29 stories, and the number of approved apartments will rise from 159 to 234, with the addition of a new 90-room hotel. 

According to the Environment and Resources Authority the proposed changes, will see the gross floor area (GFA) increase by 11,912sq.m. The approved plans so far catered for a GFA of 90,432sq.m. 

Car trips to increase by 662 

The changes will also result in an increase of 662 in the estimated average number of vehicle trips generated by the project from 2,526 to 3,188 cars. 

An air quality study suggests that this change will have minimal to moderate effects on dust emissions, but emissions of particulate matter are expected to exceed legal limits, even without the project changes. 

However, the study proposes mitigating these impacts through the implementation of a green travel plan. The project will also include a green parking area for alternative modes of transport like cycling, scooters, and taxis, with parking facilities increasing by over 40%, from 600 to 850 spaces. 

Objectors lament fragmented open space 

In an objection to the project, lawyer Claire Bonello and architect Tara Cassar expressed concerns that the 11-story hotel block will further fragment the surrounding public open space. They noted that the proposed hotel's footprint closely resembles that of a tower block that accompanied the larger tower in a permit issued in 2015, which was later revoked by the Environment and Planning Tribunal. The addition of this open space was meant to address shortcomings in the quality of open space provided in the revoked permit. 

They also argued that approval of the new plans would violate the Floor Area Ratio policy, which balances high-rise development with surrounding open spaces, especially given the increase in floor area resulting from the new hotel and the tower's revised layout.  

The Townsquare saga 

The Townsquare project in Sliema, a 28-story development, was initially approved by the Planning Authority board in 2019, following years of controversy over its height. The project was a collaboration between the Ganado, Gasan, Soler, and Trapani-Galea families. After obtaining a permit for the tower development in 2019, the former owners applied to add three floors to an approved seven-story building and change its function to a 113-room hotel, overlooking a new square near Villa Drago. 

The project was eventually sold to developer Michael Stivala for a reported €70 million. According to the plans submitted by Stivala, the hotel's location has shifted further away from Villa Drago in the direction of Hughes Hallet Street.