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PRIME MINISTER GIVEN PREVIEW OF CORINTHIA’S PLANS FOR ST GEORGE’S BAY

21/05/2015

The Hon. Prime Minister has today visited the Corinthia Hotel in St George’s Bay where he was given a presentation on the IHI Group’s preliminary plans for the regeneration of the company’s properties in the area. He was updated on the company’s proposals and parameters, which have been agreed as a basis for further discussion.

IHI is Malta’s foremost hotel and real estate investment and development company with over €1 billion in property assets in cities across Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as ownership of the Corinthia Hotels brand and management company.

In Malta, IHI owns the Corinthia and Marina Hotels in St George’s Bay and is in advanced due diligence in anticipation of an acquisition of the Island Hotels Group, owner of the Radisson Hotel also on St George’s Bay.

The Corinthia hotels and Radisson hotel sit on a land plot of approximately 76,000m2. IHI is planning to redevelop the combined site into a high-end mixed use destination anchored by two luxury hotels, one beachfront resort aimed at attracting high-net holiday makers and one lifestyle hotel aimed at corporate visitors. The development will also feature a series of residential apartment buildings to be serviced by the hotels, as well as a degree of commercial and retail activity.

“Our objective is to recreate an oasis of excellence in St George’s Bay”, Mr Alfred Pisani, chairman of IHI, told the Prime Minister. “We want St George’s Bay to become a premier address in Malta, a beacon for our national aspirations in tourism and lifestyle accommodation.”

IHI’s last development was the award-winning Corinthia Hotel and Residences at Whitehall Place in London, a project that has won critical acclaim for its design and service matching the very best in the UK’s hotel and residential real estate markets.

The same architects, GA Design from London, have been entrusted with the concept development for the Malta project, with a brief to maximize standards in environmental technology and space planning. The footprint of the buildings to be erected will occupy less than one third of the total site, with extensive landscaping and gardens.

Mr Pisani added: “Today’s presentation is an important step, but much work lies ahead. We will now be working with the political class across the national spectrum, with MEPA and consulting all interested parties in the coming period to ensure we have the nationwide support for what is an important project for Malta, requiring investment in excess of €400,000,000, and more importantly, the beginning of positioning Malta as a high-end destination.”

The development will generate close to 1,000 jobs in the hotels, residential and commercial sectors.

The Prime Minister thanked IHI for the company’s confidence in Malta and for bringing its international expertise back to bear on its home country, where Corinthia started as a fine dining restaurant in Attard in 1962.

“What we have seen today augurs well. There will be much to discuss and debate with the local authorities but ultimately, we are confident that Corinthia and its professional team, as well as the company’s collective 52 years of experience, will make us proud, much as they have made Malta proud in many cities across Europe.”