Plans progress to convert Malaga’s old Correos building into an ‘iconic and remarkable’ hotel

The owner’s lawyers have been searching for land to give the council as compensation for changing the building’s designated use in the Urban Plan. The new owner of the Correos building in Malaga city, Israeli oil magnate Haim Tsuff, thinks he may have found a solution to the problem which has delayed the conversion of the old Post Office headquarters into a top class hotel.

Tsuff, who acquired the building at auction over a year ago for 23.5m euros, has been studying various options to obtain the change in the planning rules which would be needed to proceed with the project.

Under the current regulations, the building is only classified for social purposes, which means it could be turned into a home for the elderly, student residences or a children’s home for example, but not a hotel.

There are two ways round a situation like this. In exchange for modifying land use under the Urban Plan, an owner can give the council the same amount of land, or the financial equivalent.

Although Tsuff could do the latter, Malaga council is not keen because it would have to use the funds to find and purchase land within two years.

Now, lawyers for Haim Tsuff believe they have found a site which may be suitable, and if so the Correos building will become an “iconic and remarkable hotel”.

Source: Sur, February 2021