New owner applies to renew Marsaxlokk hotel permit

The new owner of the Hunters Tower in Marsaxlokk, GB Leisure Group, has applied to renew a permit for hotel development issued seven years ago.

The outline permit setting parameters for the development of the 125-room hotel was issued in 2018. It expires in November 2026.

The Planning Authority had also issued a permit for the demolition of the existing building and to excavate the site. However, it still has to issue the full development permit for the hotel project. 

The site’s new owner, GB Leisure Group, a company owned by Gilbert Bugeja, who is also one of the owners of the Bilom Construction Group, has declared having full ownership in the renewal application.

The application foresees no changes over the hotel development approved in 2018.

The outline permit stipulates that the hotel will be built over three floors and a receded fourth level, in the immediate vicinity of the Il-Magħluq marshland.

The hotel would replace the popular restaurant and its surrounding garden. The site is located outside development zones and in an area identified for hotel development, according to a development brief issued in 2014.

The development does not impinge on land outside the footprint of the existing restaurant and its outdoor area but will be considerably larger than the existing building . An Environment Impact Assessment had recognised a negative visual impact but the studies also excluded negative impacts on the nearby wetlands, which are granted maximum environmental protection.