Tom Cruise fever sparked property gold rush

Additional reporting by Teodor Reljic

'Tom Cruise fever' was so high the minute news was broken that the Hollywood actor was planning to buy his next residence in Malta, that real estate agents flocked to offer up to Italian estate agent Alessandro Proto properties that were not even for sale.

MaltaToday has been reliably informed that property agents tried to entice Cruise's alleged house-hunter to buy Villa Rosa in St George's Bay, which was purchased for 29 million back in 2009.

The intermediaries - project developers who are in the furniture business - were unauthorised to conduct business on behalf of the Villa Rosa owners, this newspaper was told.

Self-styled 'property broker to the stars' Alessandro Proto has been trying to convince MaltaToday that Tom Cruise has really put his finger on a "suitable" 12 million property in the San Gwann environs, after MaltaToday's online portal carried the denial of publicists 42 West that Cruise was looking for a Maltese villa.

And an estate agent who actually met Proto while the latter was in Malta ruled out the existence of a 12 million villa and questioned Proto's credentials, as the Italian broker claims to have found homes for Hollywood's jet-set.

Proto, who claims he is in direct contact with other unnamed representatives of Tom Cruise, has been adamant to prove to MaltaToday that he has been inundated by offers.

"This property is valued at 20 million and is not even officially on the market, so if Dhalia says that there are no villas of 12 million it does not mean they don't actually exist," Proto said.

But the very listing that allegedly falls within the specifications of Cruise's demand for a 'tennis court-sized living room', turns out to be the former hotel Villa Rosa in St George's Bay - not for sale, this newspaper has reliably confirmed.

In fact, MEPA applications for the Villa Rosa gardens include the development of 15 bungalows of 170 square metres each, apart from a further si! x-storey development and a car park on 25% of the valley that is also a designated special area of conservation.

The plan also allows two-storey development for catering and retail outlets - but 50% of the site has to be landscaped, existing mature trees retained "where possible", and the public given access to this site.

Absolutely no development is allowed within the existing upper gardens surrounding Villa Leonardo De Vinci, the villa inside the gardens, and only minor alterations are allowed on the villa itself.

Film Commissioner - no guarantee of Tom Cruise film

Malta Film Commissioner Peter Busuttil - whom Proto said offered his help in finding estate agents to liaise with him - says there isn't even any guarantee that Cruise's next film will be coming to Malta.

When contacted by MaltaToday, Busuttil confirmed that he had spoken to Proto on the matter, but only in the capacity of forwarding information about estate agents and individuals who were interested in selling their property to Cruise, and who had contacted the Malta Film Commission to enquire about the story.

"After the story first broke in the British press - and it's important to remember that that's how this whole thing got started - the Film Commission became inundated with requests from real estate agents and property owners. There was even one particular potential seller who told me: "listen, if Tom Cruise wants to buy he best let us know soon, I can't keep my property on hold for him!"

"We then got in touch with Proto simply to forward any information we had from interested parties," Busuttil said.

The film commissioner also denied the rumour - as reported in The Times on 29 February - that Cruise will be filming the science fiction film We Mortals Are in Malta.

"It's true that we've been in touch with one of the producers of the film, but all they've told us for now is that he would keep Malta in mind," Busuttil said.

The real estate agent who met Italian financie! r Alessa ndro Proto - who insists he is still representing Hollywood star Tom Cruise in the search for a villa in the nondescript town of San Gwann - says there is no villa in Malta that costs 12 million.

MaltaToday spoke to the Dhalia property broker soon after his name was dropped by Alessandro Proto, who contacted MaltaToday after carrying the denial by Cruise's publicists. "I have met Alessandro Proto twice, once in July and recently... but in the last month he has been unreachable, and I have both his mobile phone numbers. Even his assistant has disappeared," the broker said, who apparently was also searching for Brad Pitt's new residence on the island with Proto.

But the Dhalia agent has ruled out the existence of a 12 million villa. "There is no such thing," he told MaltaToday.

And he equally expressed doubts over the credentials of Alessandro Proto, 37, who claims to represent American property mogul Donald Trump. "I'm having my doubts... he's not answering my phone calls or emails. There's a big question mark. I did have a good rapport with him but suddenly there's been no communication."

While Dhalia's broker struggles to find a window to discuss Tom Cruise's tennis court-sized living room, Proto himself got in touch with MaltaToday to claim the denials by 42 West, Cruise's publicists, are a tad misinformed.

"Yes... the thing is 42 West are Tom Cruise's reps on certain matters. I, on the other hand, have my direct contacts to Cruise through other entities."

But Proto would not tell MaltaToday who these intermediaries were when asked whether this newspaper could verify their existence. "I cannot tell you. You know what this business is like... we have never had any problems on these deals."

Proto also insisted that he sent a dozen listings of luxury properties to Tom Cruise, who allegedly found one to be suitable - located in the environs of San Gwann and costing 12 million. "It's in the vicinity of San Gwann. You know how small Malta is, everybody knows everyone! ."

He added that he broke off contact with Dhalia because the properties they supplied were not suitable.

But the publicists for Hollywood star Tom Cruise have denied that the film actor is scouting for a "12,000,000" property in the San Gwann area.

"It is not true," Patricia Holdstein, assistant publicist at New York's 42 West, told MaltaToday on the phone.