MIDI sees market as 'robust' for its type of properties

The Maltese property market is far from collapse or saturated with the type of properties being offered by MIDI plc, according to MIDI chief executive Ben Muscat. "The property flow from the project is to be significantly reduced," he told The Sunday Times.

Later this year, 59 apartments are going to be put on the market at Tigné Point; this will be the first market launch since 2003 when another 60 units were offered for sale; After Tigné Point is completed, Manoel Island will be taken in hand.

"The intention was always to finish off Tigné Point in terms of the detailed planning issues, detailed design and detailed uses before developing Manoel Island. I think we are very close now to defining what remains of Tigné Point and what has to be mapped out is Tigné North."

Tigné Point is a very unique development, Mr Muscat said. "I think it is incorrect for people to talk about property in a general sense without being specific and referring to certain parts of the property market that perhaps may be under more pressure than others."

"While most people agree that the property market in Malta may be saturated, this doesn't necessarily apply to all types of properties. If you had to see what is happening in Portomaso for example, apartments there are fetching better prices than they were last year and this is in spite of what is being said about saturation in the market."

"Our experience for Tigné Point is the same. There are only so many apartments within this development and even fewer that are right on the water's edge with a view of Valletta. Of course there are flats with views all along the front but here you are in this totally pedestrianised, planned village which is unique in its own right and all the properties which MIDI will be rolling out for Tigné Point have this very specific characteristic.

"Those on Tigné North are even closer to the water; but apart from that even the apartments that might not have a view are part of this mixed use development which has value in its own right.

"You're walking in a landscaped pedestrianised environment; you go to the fort; you go to the clubhouse, go for a dip in the pool, you go to the piazza; you go shopping - it'll be quite a lifestyle; there is also planning consent for a seven screen cinema complex within the retail centre that will add to the leisure element and extend the hours of activity throughout the commercial area of Tigné Point."

The 59 apartments that go on the market later this year are in a block known as T10. These waterfront apartments, Mr Muscat said, have some of the best views yet. "You will have views of both Sliema and Valletta, and some will have views of Fort St Elmo and Valletta on one side, and the breakwater and the horizon on the other."

The block is stepped from six to 12 floors with different sized apartments: one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom, plus penthouses, all of which will be completed in 2009.

At the moment, the first wave of 200 apartments that were sold in 2002 and 2003 are being handed over to their new owners. "The first phase of 70 apartments is being handed over as we speak. There are families who've lived there for months now and more will live there as contracts are concluded. Today it is a habitable area. It is not part of the construction site."

The second cluster is in the process of being completed. A number of these apartments are expected to be ready by the end of next month, with contracts being signed from July onwards. The third cluster is targeted for completion in late autumn, so contracts can be signed in the new year.

Mr Muscat conceded that work on the completion of these apartments was behind schedule but, looking ahead optimistically, he said the MIDI consortium intended to learn from its experience for the future.

"These are the first 200 homes out of 1,000," he said. "There are 80 per cent more residences in the pipeline across the lifetime of the Manoel Island and Tigné Point project, so one hopes that lessons learnt will be well applied in the future."

Every effort is being made to minimise the disturbance caused by the project to these residents. "The important aspect of these apartments is that they are all outward-facing," Mr Muscat said.

Access to Tigné Point is from along The Strand through a road beyond the Fortina Hotel. Once inside the project, you go underground and are guided to the Piazza from where you will choose the route that will take you to one of the three residential blocks.

"At present it is a temporary two-way system because all of Tigné Point works in a one-way fashion," he said. "The permit is coupled with the conclusion of some foreshore works so that we will then be able to create some circular route.

"Eventually, there will also be access once the north side of the tunnel on the Tigné Beach side of the peninsula. One will be able to access Tigné Point from both ends. It is one massive underground distribution system. There is as much underground in Tigné Point as there is above ground."

MIDI has signed a joint venture with Siemens Italia for the installation of the entire ICT infrastructure at Manoel Island and Tigné Point called SIS Ltd. Siemens are in the process of rolling out the infrastructure.

"Tigné Point has already been wired up, so the infrastructure can already be used to provide telephony and broadband services and basic services, like surveillance, access control and fire detection. Having installed it, one can use the infrastructure to provide other services that may be generated as a result of a particular need. It is very exciting."

The next development is an office complex, with 16,000 m2 of prime office space right in the heart of Tigné Point. "I see that office space, enjoying all the amenities that there are to be enjoyed at Tigné Point, complimenting what is happening at SmartCity up to a certain extent.

"SmartCity is a certain type of office and you could very well have a situation where people may think of coming to Malta to SmartCity initially but then finding that offices right in the centre of an urban development might suit their purposes more than being in SmartCity itself or you could have a situation where people for very good reasons might parcel out their office occupation partly at SmartCity and partly at another location.

Mr Muscat considers the office complement as very important because it creates a certain dynamism within Tigné Point itself. "It is not one of those towns that is purely residential in character but it's got a mix of people coming and going on a daily basis and very good for the commercial end of Tigné Point in general."

He expects all the traffic management issues to be sorted out by the time the office development will come on stream: "They must be sorted out. You cannot have people coming to work, to shop and to use the facilities every day unless you have sorted out how you are going to get here, where you are going to park and how you are going to get out again.

"Part of the solution is the internal development itself. By that time, we are pretty definite that the internal road strategy, the parking strategy and the traffic management strategy - in other words, all that we have control over - will be done. That has to be complimented by the government strategy for the rest of Sliema, and for Kappara and Gzira.

"What we are expecting to happen first, as far as a national road strategy goes, is the sorting out the Ferries, Tower Road, Qui-Si-Sana and Tigné Point.

Looking further ahead, Mr Muscat said restoration of Fort Tigné, the first component of Tigné North, will be complete by spring, 2008. The fort, he said, will be open to the public: "It is a very important site, the only heritage site in Sliema.

"At the end of the day, both Sliema in general and ourselves will capitalise on the fact that finally there is a heritage site in town as this gives yet another reason for tourists to specifically come to Sliema, not just for leisure but for culture too."

Going back to the office development, Mr Muscat said that this is in the north part of Tigné Point, and will be spread over two blocks. One block overlooks the piazza with some views of Valletta, and another block, which is higher, overlooks the north shore and the horizon. "But they work as one floor, so potentially a tenant who requires a large space can get up to 1,500 m2 of open plan offices on one level serviced with car parking, packed with technology and all the necessary amenities."

Complimenting these offices are two residential blocks with a total of 80 apartments on the north shore. These will be on the market after T10 is complete. The last part of the Tigné Point development is a 23-floor tower.

"There is currently a debate on whether it should be one tall tower or two shorter towers," Mr Muscat said and the plans have yet to be finalised: "Apart from everything else, we are still finalising the volumes for the whole of Tigné North. This is all part of the discussion we are having with the Planning Authority in the context of the major disruption to the project as a result of the Garden Battery conservation."

The Garden Battery, he stressed, was never earmarked for preservation. "On the contrary, within the planning document itself, in the outline scheme, it was clearly indicated as not for preservation. The outline permit was granted on that basis.

"When MEPA made a very strong request for its preservation, work on the tunnel and on Tigné North was put on hold for nearly two years until we determined how exactly we were going to pass the tunnel under the Garden Battery and completed another planning permit process for the required amendments to the tunnel. This resulted in a total redesign of the tunnel itself and Tigné North."

This also meant that costs skyrocketed. Mr Muscat said the cost of the tunnel trebled, "and the initial cost was not a small figure. Apart from the fact that you get other issues that you have to contend with in terms of the actual entrance/exit to the tunnel.

"Now we are having to contend with the latest scheme by ADT which is going to result in a one-way thoroughfare for the tunnel. So, that requires further redesign to accommodate a different traffic pattern. It does not affect any of the internal distribution but it does affect the tunnel mouth itself.

"So, we are taking a time-out at this stage, having discussions with ADT to determine exactly how concrete these plans are." Still, he stressed, it is very important to us to open the tunnel for traffic.

Initially, it will be in a managed fashion because access has to be shared with construction vehicles since it will be the route to finish Tigné North, "but we would not like to be marking time for too long. So presently the last phases of Tigné North are under discussion with MEPA to try to work out how to balance the inconvenience and any costs that we incurred as a result of this underground saga with the commercial realities of the project."