Thursday 11 September 2008

Landlord takes on developer

Former restaurateur and property investor Peter White has called on An Bord Pleanála to reject what he described as a “monstrous development” sought by Seán Dunne for the former Jurys and Berkeley Court hotels site in Ballsbridge.

The call came yesterday, on day 2 of the oral hearing of 127 objections to Dunne’s plans to build a 37-storey tower on the seven-acre site he bought for €380 million three years ago.

Taking the floor, White said Ballsbridge was a “unique and rare jewel” and not a “mini-Manhattan or Dubai”.

He told the hearing that he was a very experienced investor who had once been the “largest landlord in Ireland” due to the size of his portfolio, and said he had owned several prominent properties, including a house on Raglan Road, which he sold to businessman Denis O’Brien a number of years ago.

He had owned houses all over the world but had chosen to settle in Wellington Road, Ballsbridge because it afforded “the facilities that people of taste and means require”, unlike Mr Dunne’s proposed development which was “an abomination” he said.

The Irish Times

www.buckplanning.ie

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