Corinthia flattens Hal Ferh complex before residential villas permit is even decided

Corinthia Group has flattened a parcel of land at the unique location of Ħal Ferħ (Għajn Tuffieħa) although it has not yet received a permit from the Planning Authority for the development of 25 residential villas.

According to the Planning Authority, the application is still at the screening process stage, which means that the application is still not considered to be complete and “may not even reach the full application stage”.

Meanwhile, the former tourism complex at Ħal Ferħ has been turned into rubble.

The Shift asked the Planning Authority to explain how it is that demolition works have been going on for months when the permit has not yet been approved for Corinthia’s so-called Oasis project. A spokesman said the work was being done based on a previous permit (for different use) issued for the same area in 2010 and renewed in 2019.

According to permit number PA4906/10, the hotel chain was given the green light to build a timeshare complex – a project the group abandoned years ago.

Corinthia Group provided the same answer, citing the old timeshare permit to justify the ongoing demolition works.

Through the demolition of the whole complex, turning a prime tourist area into an eyesore, Corinthia has compromised the planning process.

“A serious company would first await the full development permit for their plans and then start work. Instead, they found a loophole which, although legal, forces the Planning Authority’s hands – now, it has no other option but to approve their permit. It seems that the Pisanis (the family that owns Corinthia Group) are no different to other cowboy developers,” industry sources said.

Work on the actual building of the new Oasis project is not supposed to start before a new permit is issued. Yet the area now looks like a construction site, even though Corinthia is saying that only demolishing works and the carting away of rubble are taking place.

Corinthia’s deal with the government on the luxury residential project hit the headlines in September after The Shift reported the controversially low amount of compensation paid by the hotel group to turn former public land into luxury residential villas.

Originally, the Hal Ferh complex, a former British military barracks converted into a tourist complex by Air Malta, was sold by the government to Island Hotels Ltd to be repurposed as a timeshare tourism complex. The deed stipulated that this land was only to be used for tourism purposes.

Yet, soon after Corinthia bought Island Group, formerly owned by the Zahra family, Alfred Pisani (one of the founders of Corinthia Group) changed plans for the area and abandoned the timeshare project.

Instead, he entered into discussions with the government for part of the land to be used to build 25 luxury residential villas for public sale, significantly raising the commercial value of the project.

Accepting this deal, the government asked Corinthia to pay compensation of some €10.3 million – considered extremely low at current property market prices, especially considering the unique location of the land in question.

Further investigations by The Shift revealed a catch in the deal, which stipulated that Corinthia were bound to pay only 10% of the €10.3 million.

The rest, over €9 million, is to be paid over 10 years and only once the villas are sold, with Corinthia offloading the payment onto those buying the property and minimising risk to the company.

This means that while Corinthia will be raking in tens of millions of euros, it will only contribute just over €1 million to the public coffers.