Permission to redevelop site opposite US embassy refused

Developer David Daly has failed in his first attempt to get planning permission to redevelop a site facing the American embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. Daly, who paid £6.5 million (€8.25m) last October for a terrace of five two-storey houses on Pembroke Road, had sought permission to replace them with a four-storey building over basement car-park. The space was to have been divided into seven office suites, two three-bedroom apartments and four one-bedroom apartments. An Bord Pleanβla said that the proposed scheme would be "unduly overbearing and out of character with the adjacent buildings". It also said it would represent a serious intrusion on the streetscape and character of this section of Pembroke Street.