Polidano eyes Xemxija for 1,800-space underground car park

The developers Charles and Paul Polidano are seeking the green light from the PA for a massive underground car park of seven levels across a 7,113sq.m plot in Xemxija.

This is the first phase of what is being described as a “comprehensive project” set to rise above the new car park.

The development is being proposed by their company Xemxija Estates on a site between Triq Radet ir-Roti and Triq is-Simar and takes advantage of the different levels between the two roads.

No details have so far been provided on the kind of development which is yet to be proposed at a later stage.

Still, plans for approximately 1,800 parking spaces could be an indication of the scale of the development envisaged in the second phase.

The project proposed in 2016 as seen in this photomontage from St Paul's Bay

However, this very same site had been previously earmarked by Polidano for a 12-storey development back in 2006, when just two levels of underground garages were proposed.

Plans were subsequently changed in 2016, which foresaw 154 apartments, and 73 hotel rooms proposed on18 levels. Photomontages and artistic impressions were also presented showing how the development will look from strategic viewpoints. This application was withdrawn in 2018.

The proposed Polidano car park is just 125m away from a 12-storey development at the former Mistra Village site in Xemxija proposed by someone else. The latter project is expected to add 744 apartments to the seaside village and also comprises an underground car park for 1,617 cars.

The site in Xemija between Triq Radet ir-Roti and Triq is-Simar where a massive car park is being proposed

In its first reaction to the Polidano project, the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has requested an archaeological evaluation of the site since it lies just outside the buffer zone of an Area of Archaeological Importance, which includes the Roman road and the Xemxija heritage trail.

The local plan of 2006 designates the site as a ‘comprehensive development area’ where although development is limited to four floors, developers can also apply the Floor Area Ratio mechanism through which they can opt for a higher building if they retain half of the site as a public open space.

The policy also states that new buildings on these sites “should have a high-quality design and seek to create a landmark feature in the landscape.”

A 13-storey development, set to include 282 apartments, is also being proposed on 6,643sq.m of garigue land in Xemxija, presently enclosed by residential development on three sides, in a development fronted by Tony Gauci.

The approval of mega developments in this area raises the prospect of Xemxija being transformed into a ‘Paceville of the north’ in the absence of any plan addressing the traffic bottleneck on Xemxija hill.

Back in 2013, when the Mistra Heights development was renewed for the first time, Transport Malta had noted that “in the absence of an alternative bypass, in order to alleviate the strain on the existing transportation route, the draconian measure would be to halt all development in Xemxija and Mellieha altogether.”

But the report dismissed this option as “not viable” and proposed to “speed up the provision of alternative transportation routes” in the area.

Previous plans to address this issue by constructing a bypass or a tunnel cutting across the pristine Manikata area under a PN administration were dropped following protests by farmers and environmentalists.