Govt invites proposals to redevelop AHQ Building and Rosia Bay

The Government of Gibraltar has invited expressions of interest from developers, investors and organisations for the redevelopment of the ex-Maritime Data Centre, known as the AHQ Building, and the restoration of Rosia Bay as a public beach, recreational and leisure area.

All project costs are to be funded by the successful applicant, with the Government stating it may consider offsetting part of the premium to support viability.

According to an official notice published today, the Government is seeking innovative and sensitive proposals that deliver inclusive, accessible and sustainable public amenities at Rosia Bay, with the aim of creating a vibrant public space for residents and visitors year-round.

Any development is expected to focus on carefully considered facilities such as a restaurant, cafeteria, kiosk, bathing platforms, seating, shaded areas and related public infrastructure.

It is the Government’s preference that the AHQ Building is converted into a boutique hotel incorporating an information and interpretation centre at lower levels, focusing on the military and maritime history of Rosia Bay and its surroundings.

Interested parties are required to take full account of heritage and planning considerations and ensure any works are sympathetic to the existing structures and character of the site.

In November 2022, an earlier expression of interest issued by the Government received a welcome from local NGOs.

At the time GONHS, ESG, the Gibraltar Heritage Trust and the Nautilus Project welcomed it and said it was encouraging to note that the approach is now a holistic one that includes the AHQ Building as well as Rosia Bay and the Rosia Mole as a public leisure facility.

“We take further encouragement that the invitation does not refer to residential development, which is a very firm red line for us, as would be any building of significant massing at the site – including on the platform – that obscures the historic monuments at the site,” the group said.

The previous year an application for a development on the site had been put forward to the Town Planner.
The project sought permission to build up to 75 residential properties in the historic but rundown Rosia Bay and was fiercely criticised during a meeting of the Development and Planning Commission.

The DPC had been discussing the scope of an environmental impact assessment for the scheme, part of preparatory work before the developer filed an initial application for outline planning permission.
But non-governmental groups who sit on the DPC spoke in unison when they said the proposed scheme flew in the face of Gibraltar’s development plan, which lists the site as an area for non-residential leisure development.

They said too that the DPC had already knocked back a scheme that had envisaged just six residential units, far fewer than this one.

A month later a petition with nearly 5,500 signatures opposing the proposed development of Rosia Bay was handed to Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

The petition launched online by The Nautilus Project some 24 hours after the Rosia Bay project was brought before the Development and Planning Commission.

Local NGOs Environmental Safety Group, GONHS and The Gibraltar Heritage Trust also joined in their support for the petition.