The foundation stone for the Metropolis project in Gzira was placed tonight, by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Jalal Husni Bey, the man behind the project.
Jalal Husni Bey, said that high rise buildings normally scare people, especially those who live on an island, "however one must understand that every country must have an area designated for high rise buildings," urging people not to be afraid.
He suggested creating a one-stop-shop for such large projects in Malta, which would help attract further investment.
The first phase of the project will see a 16 storey building constructed by Polidano group. The 1st tower, 28 floors, will be constructed by an Italian company who he chose not to name and the 2nd tower, 32 floors, will be constructed by a company "who built the highest of Dubai's high-rise towers".
He mentioned that he has other plans for Malta. Speaking with the Malta Independent, he gave a hint as to what these plans are "I would do a lot that would cater to all those mega yachts coming to the island and make sure that they would spend three days here having an absolutely good time, so much so that they would return home and bring other with them on the next trip".
Mr Bey spoke about two sister projects in Libya which have currently halted due to the conflict.
Mr Bey said that when coming on board with the project, it was not satisfactory and would not have met his expectations, as such he restarted the whole project, including receiving permits from MEPA. "We always wanted to make sure it was the right time and now is the right time as commodity prices are at their lowest and expectations for economic growth in Europe due to energy cost and so forth are positive. This is absolutely the right time to build and the wrong time to sell".
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat stressed that Malta is attracting the right kind of investment. This investment, he said, would bring in around €120 million and would help regenerate the Gzira area, transforming it into a business hub.
The complex will see restaurants, luxury apartments and offices, a parking area as well as a helipad. "It will also create around 400 new jobs. Both the Prime Minister and Mr Bey are hopeful that the project will be complete within the next three years.
"There was a minute when I believed that this project would fall through due to beurocracy, however it hasn't," the Prime Minister said. "I am optimistic the Metropolis will be something we will be proud of".