Cort will demolish Gaspar Bennàssar's building on 31st December street but will preserve the facade
The developer will build a multi-family building with 15 homes, parking spaces and storage rooms. ARCA considers the preservation of the facade a triumph, but says that more elements should have been preserved.
PalmThe Palma City Council has finally approved the conservation of the facade of the Gaspar Bennàssar building located on 31st December street. The initial project, which had been approved, by the developer, provided for the demolition of the current building to erect a new one that faithfully reproduced the original facade designed by the architect.
However, the ARCA entity filed an appeal with the Consell de Mallorca, which led to the demolition being halted. Now, the Historic Center Commission has given the green light to a new proposal that will maintain the existing facade and allow the construction of a multi-family building with 15 homes, parking spaces, and storage rooms, as explained by the Councilor for Urban Planning, Óscar Fidalgo, this Tuesday at a press conference.
Fidalgo recalled that in January 2025 the Insular Heritage Commission rejected granting heritage protection to the building, as ARCA requested, considering that it did not "present sufficient values" for any of the protection figures provided for by law. The technical reports from the Consell indicated that the construction "did not have special interest from a formal or aesthetic point of view" and that the current facade is a simplified version of Bennàssar's original design. Despite this, and after municipal mediation, the property has opted to "reformulate the project to preserve the exterior appearance," Fidalgo explained.
ARCA, the conservationist entity of Mallorca, has valued the decision to preserve the facade as a triumph. Nevertheless, it considers it to be "insufficient protection," since the report from the Consell de Mallorca pointed out the need to also preserve interior elements, such as certain hydraulic pavements. According to the entity, maintaining the original facade – and not demolishing it to rebuild it, as the developers intended – is the minimum requirement to avoid "having a fake city."
Now, ARCA demands that the City Council ensure that the facade stabilization project is as adequate as possible, with the aim of guaranteeing its preservation during the course of the works. "The landscape value of the footprint of history in a city is what makes us unique and helps us identify with it," they point out. Likewise, the entity describes the delay in the preparation of a complete protection catalog by the Council as "worrying."
Urbanism Management
On the other hand, Cort's Urban Planning Department has also authorized two changes of use from commercial premises to housing, in addition to an interior renovation and the grouping of two offices into a single dwelling.
Furthermore, the mayor has announced the incorporation of the Son Toells urban development as the seventh area under processing. It joins the nuclei of Puigdorfila, Son Ximelis, Can Pastro, Son Güells, Son Cladera, and Can Fontet.
According to preliminary estimates, this new development could accommodate between 110 and 115 homes. The final number will depend on the technical reports and prior studies that are being prepared before the final approval of the project.