Apartments, car park and supermarket proposed in St Julian’s

An application for the development of a public car park, a supermarket, retail outlets, a coffee shop and 25 residential units has been presented to MEPA.

The project also includes a set of public lifts linking the parish church to the car park and Lapsi Street to the car park and retail outlets. The lifts would offer pedestrians a shortcut, both down to Spinola Square and also up to Lapsi Street.

MEPA already amended local plans to pave the way for a car park after a public hearing in February 2013.

On that occasion, architect Ray Demicoli argued that the car park, which would include space for 441 cars, would not be viable without commercial and residential development.

A photomontage of the proposed complex shows that it would not be higher than the roofs of the other Lapsi Street buildings and thus would not obstruct neighbours' views.

But the plans would do away with an open space and radically change the situation of the Spinola church, creating a stretch of buildings between it and the nearby primary school.

The first plans for the project were submitted in 2011, and the application was only validated by MEPA two years later. Speaking to MaltaToday in 2011, Demicoli explained that the project had originated with the idea of finding adequate space for his renowned architectural studio, which boasts various projects both locally and internationally. But since the owners wanted to sell the entire area, he started exploring ways of developing it while respecting its architectural fabric.