It was like old times in the Berkeley Court Hotel in Dublin yesterday when developer Seán Dunne put his plans for redeveloping the Jurys Ballsbridge/Berkeley Court hotels site on public display. Doormen wearing top hats and tails ushered a steady stream of visitors into the lobby of the hotel which has remained untouched since closing its doors last month, writes Ronan McGreevy.
By the time the doors opened at 12..30pm, half a dozen local residents had gathered to view Mr Dunne's plans for a major apartment, office and hotel scheme in the heart of Ballsbridge. They were followed by office workers on their lunch break, curious onlookers and property professionals.
The focal point was a model of the proposed development. The 37-storey One Berkeley Court was no bigger than your hand, but even on the smallest scale it dwarfed everything around it.
"It's a lot less scary than I thought it would be," said former Horslips singer, film-maker and Dalkey resident Barry Devlin who dropped in for a look.
"I love the way it opens up the space in the area, but I think the tower is out of line for Ballsbridge," he said.
Several residents, who declined to give their names, said that there were good aspects to the plan, but the 37-storey tower was too high for the area.
"It's a very ambitious development, maybe in Manhattan or San Francisco, but not in Ballsbridge," said one resident.
"It's vanity gone mad," said another, "and totally out of character and sympathy for the area. There's a lot of begrudgery against people in Dublin 4 that we're rich and we're serial objectors, but I'm not rich and none of my neighbours are either."
A woman who questioned the design team at length remained unconvinced. "I'm going to object on the grounds of height, traffic and water pressure. It's not going to work."
However, there was also considerable support for the development. "I know there are a lot of objectors locally, but I don't happen to be one of them," said Michael Kane. "I think high-rise is good. At the moment, Ballsbridge is neither suburb nor city and I think this will extend the city and it needs extending."
"It's progress," said Clem Clancy, a Ballsbridge resident. "There is a lack of good shops in Ballsbridge and we're looking forward to the new hotel."
Among those who were there to lend their support to the development was the former minister for state and incoming director general of the Construction Industry Federation, Tom Parlon.
"I'm very impressed with what I have seen to date and I've asked a lot of hard questions," he said. "He [ Seán Dunne] is at the mercy of the planners and objectors, but I admire his guts. We've had people like Donald Trump in the US who suffered the same type of criticism, but he has produced some iconic buildings."
Similar sentiments were expressed by local architect Tony O'Beirne. "I represent the silent majority of people in this country. I think SeáDunne has vision and courage and it seems to me that any project with vision gets strangled in this country."
The plans are on display between 12 noon and 6pm until tomorrow evening.