Can we get a reality check, please?

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence – John Adams, 2nd American President

Our Group’s City Centre project proposed for St George’s Bay, St Julian’s has been obliged to go through more local and foreign institutional and media hoops than any other. No problem there, as long as the dialogue and analysis remain open, sincere and fact-based.

Indeed, independently of the motivations of whoever was behind it, the spotlight on us served a good purpose. It helped our Group identify all the legitimate concerns and to address them in a comprehensive manner. ‘We listened and we acted’ is no longer a slogan. It is fact.

Today, our project is not what it was, even last year. On Tuesday, even the Pembroke local council admitted that their sole remaining key objection is its height.

But even here objective and dispassionate scrutiny reveals that this last objection has no basis in fact. The truth is that the tower has been decreased by 7 floors or 18%. This is the equivalent lowering the tower by a third of the length a football pitch. It is now approximately the same height as Mercury Tower, Fort Cambridge, Metropolis and Town Square, all in the same general area. If these have been found to be acceptable, so is ours.

But we went even further. The hotel has been reduced by the equivalent of almost three standard floors. Crucially, the entire project is now 19,000 sqm less than permissible by the local plan. Overall, the developable area has been reduced by 50,000sqm. These are facts, not opinions. These are what Adams called the ‘stubborn things’ that cannot be casually and capriciously whisked away.

In the same vein, the public areas in the project have been increased by almost 40%. In total, there will be almost 7,000sqm of open spaces at the disposal of the public and they are right at the heart of our project. Now that the whole picture, the truth, is emerging, the City Centre can be seen for what it is and will be when it is ready. Now that we addressed the genuine concerns on one side and the falsehoods have all collapsed under the unforgiving weight of facts on the other, clarity about the project has finally become possible. Now that the truth is out, no unfair prejudices, lies, commercial and political agendas can continue to assault it. If you want to know the facts about the City Centre project, you’re only a click on our website away.

The City Centre will be a unique 5-star iconic destination and a showcase to attract upmarket tourism, create jobs, boost the economy and help the country in the post-Covid19 period. It is going to be one of largest investments by a single individual in this country’s history - €250 million. Again, this is a fact, not conjecture.

This investment will mean that in the first decade of operations, the project will generate almost half a billion euro to government, the people, and this shoots up to €800 million with the multiplier effect factored in. Apart from this massive injection into public coffers, the project will also create 1,200 new jobs. If the post-Covid era is a raft of certainties, our project will be one of the sails pushing the country out of it.

Finally, it has to be pointed out that the db Group is not coming to Pembroke to build real estate, sell it and leave. We are here to stay in the community, to operate the hotel, to manage the shopping mall and restaurants, all in line with our upmarket vision. We will also be working with the Local Council to upgrade, keep embellishing and maintaining different areas in Pembroke at our cost.

We listened. We acted.

Arthur Gauci is CEO of db Group