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CF Homes Limited, a company partly owned by construction magnate Joseph Portelli, is working on a large development overlooking St Joseph Street in Santa Venera. The project includes seven retail shops and two duplex apartments on the ground floor, and 31 residential apartments on three floors above.
The site, which has been demolished and partially excavated, was originally planned to be used to build a bank branch and upper-floor apartments proposed by the Bank of Valletta, which claimed full ownership of the site in 2023.
Plans by architect Maria Schembri Grima show that the new building will be taller with its recessed floors than a row of uniform two-storey townhouses built at the beginning of the 20th century. Moreover, it will introduce a massive, elongated and unbroken facade, in stark contrast to the rhythm of the street, which is still dominated by these old townhouses. But the building will be the same height as the unsightly building found to the left of the excavation site.
The Heritage Inspectorate expressed concerns that the proposed development could “set a precedent for further inappropriate development” in the area, potentially affecting surrounding buildings. The Heritage Inspectorate described the project as “wholly out of proportion and out of character” with the traditional streetscape.
SCH also noted that the applicant proposed to construct a three-storey building on the facade overlooking Triq il-Kbira San Guzepp. SCH warned that this would result in an unsightly wall adjacent to the adjacent properties on Triq il-Kbira. In addition, the application would create a building of “very large mass”, which SCH considered unacceptable within the UCA (Urban Conservation Area) and exacerbated the excessive height of the proposed development.
On the contrary, the Design Advisory Committee, which is responsible for advising the PA on design issues, did not oppose the proposal. However, SCH criticized the design, which features a series of continuous arches, as being inappropriate for the area.
The application originally envisaged the development of a bank branch and three floors of residential apartments on the ground floor and was first lodged by the Bank of Valletta in 2023. The application was later amended and both the applicant and architect changed.
The Bank of Valletta previously submitted an application in 2019 to develop a four-storey office building on the same plot. That application featured a more contemporary design and was subsequently withdrawn. The 840 square metre plot on which the new development was proposed was a vacant lot and a one-storey building was demolished after approval was given for the residential area, which was never built.
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