Three buildings in the City of Hamilton have been given the all clear for demolition from the Department of Planning ? although there?s no certainty they will all actually come down.

The first structure at 6 Joells Alley was destroyed in a fire last year on the 4th of July. Eleven businesses were devastated.

The joint property owners, Lucilis Trust and People?s Pharmacy Ltd., will tear down the derelict cluster of buildings and use the space to nearly double the size of its parking lot.

The pharmacy currently has about 20 car spaces and that number will soon grow to 50.

?We?re extremely busy here at People?s Pharmacy so we envision using the entire parking lot for the retail business,? said People?s Pharmacy President Donna Pearman.

?Later we plan to redevelop the site, while we?re getting that together, we?ll have parking for the pharmacy.?

Once the demolition work is complete, the parking lot will stretch from Victoria Street to Church Street ? allowing customers to get in and out from both sides of Joells Alley.

Ms Pearman couldn?t say what might be coming in the redevelopment plan, but she expected the parking lot changes to be finished by late April.

A three-dwelling home at 17 Laffan Street also got the go-ahead to face a wrecking ball.

Talbot Enterprises requested permission to level the structure with the idea of putting up a four-storey office building in its place.

So far planners have not cleared Talbot for construction of the office space, only for destruction of the living quarters.

At the Talbot Enterprises office a man said the company had no comment. Laffan Street is in the shadow of the Bulls Head Car Park in a section of the city with a Muslim community centre, Catholic church offices, and a few homes.

Not far from there at 1 Elliot West, the Defontes Group was granted permission to rip down the building which now houses the Pasta Basta Restaurant in order to erect a 4-level commercial structure for broadcasting and retail businesses.has since learned the building won?t be demolished because, while the Defontes Group was waiting on planning approval, another buyer came along and scooped it up.

The new owner plans to keep the place as a restaurant for the time being, although it?s not clear if the Pasta Basta name and style will remain.