New Savoy Owners Want To Create ‘Beautiful Landmark’ And Reveal Cost Was Far Lower Than €12.8 Million Bid
The redevelopment of the abandoned Savoy Hotel will create “a beautiful landmark” that residents of Sliema and Gzira could be proud of, the winners of a judicial auction have said.
“There are enough blocks of apartments going up – we want to do something different,” Exalco Group CEO Alex Montanaro told BusinessNow.
“We want to do something beautiful. It is really important for us that the old Savoy building is fully respected and renovated sensitively.”
After a long legal battle, a judicial auction was put up for the property with a starting price of €2.8 million.
Schembri & Sons Limited (an F. Schembri & Sons subsidiary) and Ray Zammit also bid for the site. However, Almo, which has the same shareholders and directors as Exalco, won with a bid of €12.8 million.
Still, the actual cost paid by the company will be far lower than the winning bid at €5.5 million, since some of the fees would have been paid to Exalco, who was already a part-owner of the property.
The Savoy was once a prominent hotel in the area but has since fallen into disrepair.
It has become a hotbed for illegal squatters, with the dilapidated scheduled building becoming a makeshift residence for drug addicts and the homeless alike. It even caught on fire in 2019.
What would you like to see the hotel become?
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