Developers have been granted planning approval to build a six storey, 70,000 square foot office building on Par-La-Ville Road North, an area branded ?the Wall Street of Hamilton?.

Once a building permit has been issued by the Department of Planning, building work will start at the parking lot behind the Buckaroo Too restaurant and Quickie Lickie Laundromat.

The building will become the second high-rise on the eastern side of the road, which has three large office blocks on the western side.

The Par-la-Ville development will not obstruct the shortcut around the existing parking lot and will feature an outdoor cafe area to make ?a comfortable and attractive pedestrian environment?.

On-site loading facilities will not block the street as there are ramps leading to the two basement levels.

There will also be a sculpture, or ?public art?, hung over the sidewalk which will ?twist and orbit in the breeze?.

But the DAB said the public art component had to set back five feet from the street and the Corporation of Hamilton should be consulted on the design of the sidewalk area.

Terceira House on Par-la-Ville will be demolished in the process. In February, architect Peter Terceira of Terceira Quarterly Associates admitted he ?owned an interest? in Terceira House but did not know how old the building was.

In a letter to Planning Director Rudolph Hollis, Mr. Terceira called Par-la-Ville Road ?the new Wall Street of Hamilton with its various expressions of commercial building style and a continuous street facade of covered arcades?.

The in-principle application was submitted to the Planning Department by ?Sago Ltd.? in September 24, 2004.

The Land Valuation website (www.landvaluation.bm) said No. 9 Par-La-Ville Road has an annual rental value of $58,000 and lists No. 9 as a laundry, ?Just Shirts?.