The Planning Authority has given the go-ahead for a 12-storey residential development at Smart City.
The Shoreline project will include some 400 luxury flats, the majority one-bedroomed, almost 14,000 square metres of rentable commercial space, mostly shops, and another 1,500 square metres of bars and restaurants.
It was approved by the PA on Thursday by 10 votes to one, amid questions on the height and visual impact from Sliema and Valletta, as well as the process used to secure changes to the approved Smart City masterplan.
READ: SmartCity developers find new way of circumventing height, building space limitations
Although the development’s floor-space by far exceeds the masterplan parameters, these limitations were circumvented after Smart City Malta agreed to transfer an additional 35,000 square metres of development space from other parts of the wider project to the Shoreline site.
NGO representative Annick Bonello, the sole board member to vote against the application, said the land “bartering” at the developer’s request was unacceptable and set a precedent for other applications.
Questions over building height also arose as the master plan had set a seven-storey limit for…
