Sliema Local Council said today it is the sole applicant for a permit to develop a three-storey underground car park and overlying garden and playground at Margaret Mortimer garden in the locality, the playground near the well-known Torri.
The project will have the same footprint of the current garden and create 180 parking spaces.
The permit application was submitted late last year and is at screening stage.
The council has also applied for the devolution of the site. The Department of Local Government has consented and approval is pending from the Lands Department.
Funds from the Commute Parking Payment Scheme administered by Mepa will be used for the project.
The council said the project goes hand in hand with other policies and projects it has been working on, including its efforts to have a residents' parking scheme and a new road design that shall be increasing parking spaces once approved by Transport Malta.