Updated | Villas at White Rocks to fetch €300 million

A consortium of Malta’s top business groups who are likely to be the preferred bidders for the redevelopment of the White Rocks area, are planning to develop 70 middle- to high-end villas with prices ranging from €1 million to €5 million.

The White Rocks area covers 45 hectares (449,885 square metres) of land but only 38%, or 135,600 square metres of the project area can be developed.

The whole project will be financed, designed, constructed, and operated by the private sector which is expected to pay the government €22 million for the sale of the land.

The villas will have the benefit of northwest-facing, uninterrupted sea views and a vista of the eastern coast of Gozo, apart from being surrounded with open spaces and sizeable gardens.

The White Rocks Development Company is spearheaded by Michael Bianchi, one of Malta’s most established businessmen who however keeps a low profile in his role as a middleman, bringing together foreign clients and local entrepreneurs.

Brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone

A case in point is including the self-made billionaires, the Livingstone brothers, together with prominent Maltese companies that include Tony Zahra and Charles Ellul. He is also associated with interests at the Malta International Airport, the Dragonara Casino, Vodafone, and Maltco Lotteries.

The Livingstone brothers, Ian, 53, and Richard, 51, ranked 26th in the London Sunday Times 2015 rich list – they are owners of several properties, including the Park Lane Hilton in Mayfair and Fairmont in Monte Carlo. They are presently involved in a consortium constructing 20,000 residential homes in Panama City.

The WRDC consortium has said that it will be investing €200 million in the project, with most of its revenue coming from the sales of the villas which are expected to fetch at least €300 million.

The project will also include a small quality hotel and some retail outlets, apart from the villas.

The consortium includes Michael Bianchi, the Livingstone Brothers, the Alpine Group, headed by MHRA president Tony Zahra, Bonnici Brothers, the construction company owned by Emanuel Bonnici, John Bonnici and Mario Bonnici; Mizzi Holdings Ltd, with Maurice Mizzi, Brian Mizzi and Kenneth Mizzi as directors; Sea Estate Ltd with Joseph Eucharist Vella of Karkanja Ltd; Elma Ltd with Dennis Baldacchino of Tal-Maghtab Construction Ltd, and Charles Ellul of Elbros Construction Ltd.

Reaction

In a reaction, the Ministry for the Economy said that at this stage of the request for proposal for the White Rocks project, the Privatisation Unit engaged an independent and reputable audit firm to conduct a land valuation exercise, and claimed that the figures quoted are “purely speculative.”

 “The site related to the White Rocks Malta project is a concession for a definite period of time and not an outright sale as reported. Therefore, the payments to the government will comprise of an upfront (once only payment) for the concession, which is substantially higher than the figure quoted by the article; a significant annual concession fee which is not mentioned at all in the article; and the possibility of Government receiving a share of the revenue generated by the Consortium.”

“Furthermore, the investment value submitted in the proposal by the Consortium exceeds the investment figure being quoted by the article, and in fact exceeds the revenue figure being quoted.”

It said that use of the site will be determined during the negotiation stage and is subject to the Request for Proposal documents terms and conditions.

“There will not be any development for the vast majority of the site, particularly the environmentally protected areas, which are to be designated as a heritage park,” the ministry insisted.

The Development of ‘White Rocks Malta’ may be utilised for up-market real estate development that includes amongst others; Luxury Hotels of not less than 5 stars, Luxury units and a High quality lifestyle community village. The development will need to adhere towards sustainable development concepts based on green construction principles in the design, build and operation of the planned location.