Sliema Chalet privatisation postponed, no interest shown

The government has been forced to postpone the privatisation and rehabilitation of the iconic Sliema Chalet because no interest has been shown in the project.

A request for proposals issued by the government last year, which closed on 1 February, has been postponed by more than a month in an eleventh-hour attempt to find a potential investor.

According to the latest proposals, potential investors must invest a minimum of €3.2 million in initial capital to turn the site into a catering and entertainment establishment.

The brief also stipulates that the potential concessionaire will have to re-invest another €3.2 million after the first 28 years of the concession.

The Shift is informed that although a good number of developers and hoteliers attended a preliminary meeting where the concession terms were explained, not one has yet come forward with a feasible proposal as the redevelopment parameters attached to the 65-year lease are “unattractive”.

The site has been abandoned for almost 60 years, and various attempts by previous governments to give the famous former entertainment venue a new lease on life have all failed.

The Chalet in Għar id-Dud was built in 1926 and was once an iconic dance hall. It closed down in 1963.

A development brief was approved by parliament in 2002, but successive governments have failed to see the project through to fruition. The building’s last standing remnants were demolished in 2006, and the concrete platform it once stood upon is the only remaining feature.