Marsa hotel proposed on fields next to busy road junction

A hotel is being proposed in Marsa along one of the busiest traffic junctions, on fields just outside the development zone.

The plot of land earmarked for the project lies opposite the roundabout between Triq Dicembru 13 and Triq Aldo Moro, a few metres away from the Carlo Cini petrol station and the Marsa sports grounds.

The site measuring 3,665sq.m also faces an area identified as a business hub in the local plan.

The application was presented by David Camenzuli a shareholder and director in J&M Property Limited.

The applicant has declared full ownership of the site and that no trees will be uprooted for the development to take place.

The application foresees the development of one level of underground parking catering for 82 cars and the construction of a four-star hotel on four floors and a receded floor. The hotel will have 157 rooms, a gym, an outdoor and indoor pool, a spa area and a conference area. The proposal also includes the development of a restaurant and a cafeteria at ground floor level.

No development was foreseen on this site in the local plan. Changes to the ‘Marsa Park Development Area and Business Hub’, which foresees a mix of retail, office and light industrial development on the whole tract of land between Triq it-Tigrija in Qormi and Triq Dicembru 13 had excluded the site being considered for the hotel.

The hotel application is the latest to be submitted for the area.

Other developments include a six-storey office block being proposed by Neville Agius and a six-storey office block with a contemporary design, on the site of the old matchbox factory proposed by the Corinthia group. Both these applications fall within the development zone.