The Island will see an influx of new office buildings in the next few years if a number of new applications to build, are granted.

Three proposals for multistorey office complexes were submitted to the Planning Department over the past week.

The first would see two derelict buildings along Crow Lane demolished to make way for a four-storey office block.

Wilkinson Estate Limited has applied for approval in principle for the project.

The lot is located on the waterfront side of East Broadway and is 13,460 square feet in area.

The harbour side of the property is wharf and sea wall, the application notes.

The building would be housed on two lots - Numbers 14 and 20, Crow Lane. One location was most recently a cycle shop while the other has been derelict since the 1960s when it was a retail coffee shop.

More recently the yard has been used for repair and maintenance of marine craft.

Due to the lot's location off the high traffic "gateway to the city", agents Bermuda Caribbean Engineering Consultants (BCEC) conducted a traffic study in order to predict what impact an office block in that location might have. The traffic study, which was done of September 21 of last year, found that 3,276 vehicles pass in front of the site heading into Hamilton between 7.45 and 9.45 a.m. with peak traffic passing between 8 and 8.15 a.m.

Traffic was much lighter heading out of Hamilton during the same hours with only 1,583 vehicles travelling in the other direction. At the close of business however, 3,065 vehicles pass the site heading out of Hamilton with peak traffic between 5 and 5.15 p.m. According to the proposal, the office block would house a maximum of 120 people in the offices and provide a parking facility for 25 cars and 36 cycles, and, based on the traffic study, the agent concluded the new building would have a minimal effect on traffic.

"After more than 30 years of having to view derelict buildings, the public will now have the opportunity to view and elegant and attractive building, embodying all the elements of the Bermuda Image," agent Delores Beraldo wrote in the documentation supporting the proposal.

On the other side of Hamilton, a three-storey office building has been proposed for the corner of Midsea Lane and Serpentine Road. Bermuda Microsystems Limited have applied for final Planning approval to demolish the existing building on the 11,718 square foot lot to make way for a mixed use commercial and industrial facility.

The proposal was given approval in principle in March and allows parking facilities for ten cars and eight cycles.

The largest of the three proposed buildings would see a five-storey complex with 47,000 square feet of office space added to Cedar Avenue at the corner of Dundonald Street. Themis Limited has applied for in principle approval for the development.

The existing building on the site, which houses "The Cedars"- the English Speaking Union building, would have to be demolished.