Updated | Villa Rosa proprietor insists on site value, Seabank stands by its claims

A valuation of the price paid by the current owners of the Villa Rosa site carried out by the Sunday Times of Malta overestimated the value of the land by €20 million according to Seabank CEO Arthur Gauci.

But now Villa Rosa complex proprietor Anton Camilleri has hit back saying he paid €32 million euros not €15 million.

Gauci made the comments in the wake of a report by the Sunday Times of Malta which quoted the Seabank CEO saying that the company’s offer for the site housing the Institute for Tourism Studies was equal to the price paid by, among others, the current owners of the Villa Rosa site.

The Seabank Group is alleged to have offered €6.5 million for the ITS site, though the group says it has offered more. The newspaper claimed conservative estimates of the value is between €80 and €100 million.  The Seabank group are refuting this figure and citing the price paid for similar footprints in St George’s Park.

But Anton Camilleri’s said: “The land acquired by Garnet Investments Limited is significantly larger than that shown in the site plan, as it includes nearby properties which are an integral part of the Villa Rosa Project. The globalprice paid by Garnet Investments Limited is just short of €32,000,000 and this is not taking into account another part worth €4,000,000 which is still in the process of being acquired. This is amply evidenced by the relative notarialdeeds, which are publicly available, as well as preliminary agreements pertaining to parts of the development which are still in the process of being acquired. Clients have received offers for their land, for more than double the said purchase price, which have nonetheless been turned down by Clients since the Villa Rosa Project is not for sale.”

Yet the Seabank CEO Gauci said he was comparing like with like, the 24,500 square metre footprint of the ITS site to that of the Villa Rosa complex not integrating the Cresta Quay site and other areas.  The Villa Rosa complex totals 26,000 square metres and was purchased for 15 million euros.

SeaBank’s reaction appears to stem from allegations of undervaluation in the site’s value.  Deloitte & Touche have been assigned by Projects Malta to give an independent valuation of the ITS site.