The A3 towers in Paola overlooking the Addolorata cemetery have been snapped up by an eager buyer, the Malta Independent is informed. The unloved towers were built by the Montebello brothers. The property has been largely uninhabited every since it was built.
The tower blocks are advertised as having a video hall porter, two passenger lifts and a stand by generator for common parts, and “incredible views of the island,” not least of the aforementioned cemetery.
The multi-million euro project was approved by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in 2005. It was touted as being an “innovative concept for residential living located on the main Paola artery on a large plot.”
The built-up area includes residential tower blocks in the form of three medium-rise steel tower structures. The A3 Towers project also includes a large open square which is considered a fundamental part of the design, together with a cafeteria and three lower levels of garages that will include 170 car spaces.
Luckily enough for the buyer, the area around the property is set for a massive regeneration project which will involve 89,000 square metres of land in the Addolorata cemetery area.
The project will regenerate the area by replacing various roundabouts, traffic lights and zebra crossings with a number of flyovers.
The project would include 1,200 metres of pedestrian zones and cycling tracks and a park and ride with space for 250 cars. Landscaping, pedestrian zones, cycling tracks and the parking area will cover 45% of the land earmarked for the project.
The contractors behind the project, Jeffrey and Peter Montebello, were embroiled in a bribery scandal but later acquitted of the charges.
Police had charged the brothers with attempting to bribe former finance minister Tonio Fenech’s private secretary, Noel Borg Hedley.
The alleged bribes were in the form of campaign donations to Mr Fenech, but no causal link was every found between the donations and the waiving of fees owed to government departments by the Montebello brothers.