Evans Building concession winner admits mistake, claims insignificance

Tista taqra dan l-artiklu bil-Malti.

Valletta Luxury Projects (VLP) – a consortium owned by the Decesare’s Eden Leisure Group and Mark Weingard of the Iniala Hotel – admitted, for the first time, a crucial mistake in its controversial winning bid for the concession of Valletta’s iconic Evans building, according to submissions published on the Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB) website on 22 February.

Responding to two challenges before the PCRB, asking it to annul the government’s decision, lawyers for VLP admitted that they had indicated the wrong financial offer of just €1.2 million for the 65-year concession instead of a yearly fee, which should have been translated into a total of €78 million.

Still, despite this mistake, which, according to rival bidders, should have led to their immediate disqualification from the process, the evaluation committee decided to award them the 65-year tender.

The consortium maintains the mistake was only a small one as the rest of their bid indicated clearly that they were offering €78 million and not €1.2 million.

The Decesare/Weingard consortium also said they had been asked to clarify the figure during the evaluation, confirming they did so immediately.

Based on this, the consortium argued the challenges from the two rival bidders should be thrown out.

The Evans concession, which will see the government hand over the historic building in Valletta to be turned into a 5-star luxury hotel for 65 years, is highly contested by other bidders.

Katari Hospitality, owned by Paul Attard, the secretary general of the Malta Developers Association and close to the prime minister, offered €41 million. And Iconic Hotel Malta – Nobu, fronted by seasoned entrepreneur Michael Bianchi – submitted a bid for €39.3 million.

Both are challenging the OPM’s decision, insisting that the Decesare/Weingard bid should be disqualified due to their wrong submission and that a new evaluation should be made.

According to Iconic Hotel Malta – Nobu, even Paul Attard’s submission is faulty as he changed his financial data to make his bid eligible when the OPM ‘inexplicably’ changed the closing date of the contested bid.

Katari, which is challenging the decision through lawyer Ryan Pace – Robert Abela’s former assistant in his legal office – rejects all the claims against it.

The PCRB is now expected to hear the cases and issue its decision. However, its decision is not final, as it can be taken to court.