Property developer and former Premier Sir John has said his proposed ten-floor office building opposite Hamilton docks would be a “landmark building” for the City.

With a landscaped area at the front, underground parking and natural light entering on all four sides, Sir John argued that Seon Place would be both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly.

“This building will say ‘we are an international centre’ and it will show what we can offer in the 21st century,” Sir John said. “It will tell people coming into Hamilton that ‘you are now entering the City, this is the commercial area of Bermuda’. We would be enhancing the image of Front Street.”

The 14,000-square-foot site next to the Carousel Liquors store has been vacant for more than 20 years and is boarded up for safety reasons. Hamilton architects Linberg and Simmons, designers of the proposed complex, yesterday revealed preliminary impressions of what the development would look like.

Its nine storeys, plus an extra floor built into the roof, means the block would break the City’s height restrictions, so the plan was rejected by the Development Applications Board (DAB) last November. It is now on appeal before the Environment Ministry.

The plans include underground parking space for 89 cars and 151 bikes.

Yesterday, as Sir John said it was time for Bermuda to expand upwards instead of outwards to make the fullest use of limited land, Corporation of Hamilton members were due to meet to discuss Mayor Sutherland Madeiros’s plans to press Government to allow taller buildings in the City.

But that meeting was postponed until January 30, because one Alderman was unable to attend due to a medical appointment.

The Aldermen, Councillors and Mayor were due to discuss a proposal to Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield that the City of Hamilton 2001 Plan — which restricts height to seven storeys maximum — should be re-drawn.

As The Royal Gazette reported on Monday, Mr. Madeiros has said that high-rise apartments and offices should be permitted in the City. “If you try to restrict the height of buildings, your grandchildren and great grandchildren will look back and say how short sighted you were with a shortage of land, not letting buildings go high in the city,” the Mayor said.

The Bermuda National Trust is among a small number of objectors. The Trust argued that the height of the building meant it would encroach on the view from Fort Hamilton and that a thorough review of the high-rise issue to determine “where and how and if Hamilton can sustain such development” was needed.

Sir John said the Seon Place site was only 20 feet above sea level and so it would not have the same impact on the skyline as a block built on higher ground. Planning permission was granted in 1992 and renewed four years later for Sir John to build a seven-storey building on the site.

The latest plan adds a landscaped area at the front, which would have been covered in concrete under the old plan.

“We wanted the building to be both practical and attractive,” Sir John said. “To do that we needed to push the building back from the road.

“This is more attractive than the seven-storey building we were given permission for, because we have created room for the landscaping and for the traffic to get in and out easily.”

The extra height of the building would allow developers Seon Place Ltd. to create additional office space to make up for potential rentable space lost by the land ceded for landscaping.

Linberg and Simmons senior partners Sjur Linberg and Gary Simmons, as well as associate Colin Floyd designed the building.

Mr. Linberg said windows on all four sides of the building would maximise the influx of natural light and help to cut electricity consumption, as well as to create a pleasant working environment.

He added that traffic consultants from the UK had studied the design, which includes provision for a holding lane for vehicles turning in to Seon Place, and believed it would not adversely affect traffic flow.

The complex comprises two buildings, each with a similar design to the new Bermuda Commercial Bank building on Par-la-Ville Road. They will be joined together by a central core housing four elevators and bathrooms. The floor plate has been designed so the office space on each level can easily be divided into two sections, one of 6,000 square feet, the other of 5,500.

And these areas can be further subdivided for tenants requiring less space.

“I haven’t talked about this with many people, but a lot of folks have expressed an interest already,” Sir John said. “They’ve taken one look at it and said when it’s built they want to be in there. I’m confident we will not have a problem finding tenants.”

The Seon Place plan is for a “mixed-use” scheme, providing 122,000 square feet of office space over nine floors with a ground-floor gym and cafe comprising 5,560 square feet as ancillary use for office employees.

The DAB appeared sympathetic to the design, even when it rejected the plan.

“Although the Board was receptive to the aesthetics of the application, the Board does not have the authority to approve an application that does not comply with the City of Hamilton Plan 2001 and therefore the Board resolved to refuse the application,” the DAB stated last November.

Today is the last day the public can lodge objections to the development with the Planning Department.

Sir John proposes ten storey landmark