Henley & Partners, which manages Malta’s cash-for-passports scheme, has added the db Group’s controversial City Centre high-rise to the portfolio of properties on offer through its real estate arm.

Casamont, part of the Henley & Partners Group, offers largely top-end real estate in Malta and Cyprus, which has a similar citizenship-by-investment programme designed and managed by the same company.

Both citizenship schemes require a property investment: €350,000 for Malta (apart from a €650,000 payment and other requirements) and €2 million for Cyprus.

Among its Malta offerings, Casamont has recently added apartments in the 38-storey St George’s Bay tower approved by the Planning Authority despite a storm of objections last month.

The properties, being sold on plan, range from €604,000 for a one-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor to €4.06 million for a 30th-floor three-bedroomed.

Casamont also sells apartments in the Mercury House high-rise in Paceville, still under-construction, as well as the Shoreline residential development at Smart City, which does not yet have planning permission and which is proposed for land originally meant to be used as an IT hub.

The db Group City Centre project, which also includes a 17-storey hotel at the former Institute of Tourism Studies site, has proved the most controversial.

More than 4,000 people submitted objections to the Planning Authority over the project - the largest number for any planning application ever considered - and hundreds of Pembroke residents attended protests in recent months, supported by environmental groups and surrounding local councils.

Objectors highlighted concerns over the project’s scale and its impact on the residential community, apart from issues of traffic generation and adherence with planning policy.

The €300 million mega-development was nevertheless given the green light by the PA at a hearing on September 20, a decision expected to be appealed by eNGOs and local councils.