RALEIGH— The 42-story building proposed for a site next to Crabtree Valley Mall won't be as imposing as it sounds because it is being built at a low elevation, said Dicky Walia, one of the developers.

“We are at the lowest point in this area,” Walia said.

The developers hired a company to send up a ballon 460 feet -- the equivalent of 42 stories -- to gauge what it would look like in the surrounding neighborhoods. They even snapped photos to help visualize the building's impact on the skyline.

The building would not seem any taller than the Holiday Inn near the Beltline at Glenwood Avenue, Walia said.

Still, it appears that Walia and his partner Sunjay Mundra have work to do to win over some city officials. The $90 million, 600,000-square-foot structure will contain a 250-room hotel and several six-figure condos.

Their company, the Soleil Group, was expected to submit plans Thursday afternoon to the Raleigh Planning Department.

Currently, the site is zoned so a hotel can be built on the property. But Glen-Tree will have to be approved by the City Council since it will be higher than the site restriction of 80 feet, or about nine stories.

City leaders expressed different views on the mixed-use project.

Mayor Charles Meeker has said a building that high should be located downtown.

Mike Regan, a City Council member for District A in North Raleigh, is in full support of the project as it stands.

“We should be embracing this thing with open arms,” Regan said.

“I don't think there should be a bias against it because it's not downtown. To even consider not supporting this thing does not make sense.”

Philip Isley, the council member from District E where the Glen-Tree site is proposed, is more cautious. He's withholding judgment until he has seen the plans, but wants the rundown Sheraton that's on the site to go.

“I'm certainly about them fixing the site,” Isley said. “Whatever they decide, it'll look better than what was there before.”

Jessie Taliaferro, another North Raleigh council member is also withholding judgment until the public become more involved.

“It's an aggressive proposal.” Taliaferro, said. “But I'm excited about the prospect for the Westin Hotel and a signature building coming to Raleigh.”

From a design standpoint, the glassy, knife-like Glen-Tree has been lauded by local pundits.

Marvin Malecha, the head of N.C. State's College of Design called the building one of “exceptional quality.”

Dick Bell, an architect and owner of the Water Garden Office Park up Glenwood Avenue was less enthused.

“It's another piece of sprawl as far as I'm concerned,” Bell said. “It's a damn good-looking thing though.”

The building was designed by Ralph Johnson from the Perkins + Will firm in Chicago, the man responsible for the international terminal at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

Johnson designed it to minimize flooding, a problem that's occurred more than once in the area.

“There won't be any occupied space on the first floor,” Johnson said. There will more than likely be parking on the first six floors, he said.

As for the neighbors, at least one of them couldn't be more thrilled. “It would be great having folks paying high dollar for a room there,” Christy Alphin, a spokeswoman for Crabtree Valley Mall said. “Any high-end development is great for us.”

© copyright 2005 by The News & Observer Pub. Co.