Hard Rock, an entertainment chain, had met former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi six years ago to discuss a tourism facility in Kalkara.
Dr Gonzi confirmed he met Hard Rock president Hamish Dodds who had expressed interest in developing a five-star facility at Bighi.
“At the time, Bighi was already earmarked for the science museum and the proposal was obviously not taken up by my government,” Dr Gonzi said.
I had met Lawrence Gonzi to introduce him to Hard Rock
He was reacting to claims by Seabank Group CEO Arthur Gauci in an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta that Hard Rock had already expressed an interest in the site housing the Institute for Tourism Studies, in St Julian’s, six years ago.
The Seabank Group aims to develop a 450-bed Hard Rock hotel, luxury residences and commercial outlets on the ITS site.
Dr Gonzi insisted the meeting he had with Mr Dodds “had nothing to do with ITS or with the development of the site”.
Seabank came under fire recently after it started taking reservation deposits on luxury apartments earmarked to be built on the ITS site while talks with the government for the transfer of the public property were ongoing.
Seabank was the only bidder in the government call for tourism-related development at ITS. Elaborate plans being shown to potential clients have prompted questions as to whether the Seabank Group had been promised the land before the election, giving them ample time to prepare a bid.
Mr Gauci denied such claims, insisting his company had long shown an interest in the ITS site. He said the previous administration had made it very clear it wanted to move ITS out and develop the area into a tourism project.
“We followed the government trend at the time… I had met Lawrence Gonzi to introduce him to Hard Rock,” Mr Gauci said.
It now transpires that the meeting with Dr Gonzi was over the landmark site at Bighi, in Kalkara and not ITS.
The Bighi site had been chosen for the creation of an interactive science centre for which EU funds were obtained.
In his interview, Mr Gauci said the company had already identified a Maltese partner to develop the commercial outlets planned for the area.
Mario Gauci, from the Big Ben Group, confirmed reports that his company had been approached by Seabank but denied any agreements were signed. He told this newspaper Big Ben was looking at all opportunities that could arise in the St George’s Bay and Paceville area as different developers had spoken of plans to develop tower blocks and retail malls.