The WTF? File: New $500,000,000 U.S. Embassy in London.

[MADem]

44. We've been in the "old" embassy since 1960.

We've been in Grosvenor Square since John Adams went over that way!

We don't own the land under the building, and that's a big part of the problem. Also, the old building is kind of cramped in some regards. It really is past time to move out of the square, despite the historical associations with it--the entire area is just not very secure, even with the ugly ass blast walls and flowerpots, etc. It's way too soft a target.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3123915/US-embassy-to-move-from-Grosvenor-Square-to-industrial-estate.html

US embassy to move from Grosvenor Square to industrial estate
The American embassy is to move from its landmark London location to an industrial area south of the river in a decision driven by security concerns.

...Ambassador Robert Tuttle said security fears had played a major role in the decision to move but also the current embassy had reached its limits as an office building with a staff of 800.

...The current embassy was always an oddity in the US diplomatic set-up because of the lease arrangement with the Duke of Westminster - virtually every other major mission is owned outright by the US.
The Duke reportedly said he would only sell if the US government returned his family's land, confiscated during the American War of Independence.

Hell, maybe this time they'll get the eagle to look the right way, if they don't take the one they have now along with them to their new home (it's considered a rather famous sculpture now, the guy who designed it was a well known artist--unknown if the reclassification of the building as a historic site means they have to leave it behind, or what) and with any luck, they'll leave behind the statue of Saint Ronnie in Grosvenor Square. Ike looks right there, but Ronnie looks like something plonked down to buy Margaret Thatcher a thrill or something.

If the idiots at Faux news don't like the idea of a black American president building a new embassy (and they don't), that's reason enough to build it, IMO.