Nine expressions of interest were submitted for the detailed design, development, operation and marketing of Corporate Village Malta.
The urban regeneration project is intended to catalyse the formation of Malta’s central business district, Malta Enterprise said this morning.
It said in a statement that this concrete interest from the private sector follows the positive response that the €150 to €200 million project was given wherever it was presented, with its iconic design and top-notch facilities attracting prospective investors’ attention.
Interest was forthcoming from a mix of companies and consortia not only from Malta, but also from a number of countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, South Africa.
Originally set for early September, the deadline for the submissions of interest was shifted in response to their requests to last Friday.
The expressions of interest which were submitted will now be evaluated according to a set of pre-established criteria, which amongst others include the professional and technical qualifications of the interested parties, their financial resources and credit standing, as well as their organisational, managerial and marketing capability.
This shall be followed by a due diligence which will be carried out before issuing a Request for Proposals to a shortlist of parties that shall be considered for a formal proposal bid. Negotiations will then follow with a preferred bidder to then close off the process.
Corporate Village Malta seeks to become a landmark building in the central business district whilst addressing the lacuna of office space in the area, with particular benefit for the financial services and business industry which has in recent years grown exponentially in the Mriehel area.
It will also provide leisure, retail, sports and conferencing facilities in almost 130,000m² of space, and will serve as Government’s single point of contact for business with the location of the main regulatory and business support agencies and departments.
Indeed, Government is guaranteeing 30 per cent occupancy of the office space, a factor which has gone down well with prospective investors as such an anchor tenancy even the before the start of the project reduces their risks and creates the necessary footfall to ensure the project is a success.
The project seeks to be sustainable in all aspects possible and implements wide range of green initiatives to favour a better environment, particularly in terms of the preservation and reuse of the site’s resources, the choice of materials used in construction, and through the use of passive and active methods to reduce energy consumption and produce energy on site.