Fort Chambray Phase 3 finally in sight

The third and last phase of the Fort Chambray project could finally get going, bringing a critical mass to this upmarket development which will benefit the existing phases. The permits for the last phase – which will occupy over half the 18th century fort built by Count François Chambray – should be issued by Mepa by the end of the year. The half-constructed buildings on the area, abandoned for the past decade, will have to be demolished, to be replaced by a mix of apartments and villas. A boutique hotel will flank the upmarket commercial and retail centre in the old barracks. The Knights had dreams of turning Fort Chambray into the new citadel for Gozo. These never materialised – and the jinx on this prime site seems to have persisted into the 20th century. The Nationalist government of the 1960s wanted to develop the fort as a tourist zone but the 1971 Labour government did not adopt its plans. It was transferred to the Zammit Tabona family for development in the late 1980s but a permit was only issued in the 1990s, to a company whose majority shareholder was Italian Roberto Memmo. The project languished in spite of subsequent Maltese investment and numerous changes in...