Two 75-story towers have been proposed for Port Tampa Bay’s plan for the Channel District area. A rendering of the $1.5 billion project was released last week.

The proposed towers are slim to avoid blocking other buildings’ views of the port. Each tower was designed with six units per floor, totaling 450 units. The units will average about 1,450 square feet each.

The Miami architect who designed the towers, Louis Ajamil, told the Tampa Bay Times that his goal was to create something distinctive for the area. However, some are questioning whether the proposed plan has too many units for the number of consumers who will actually want to live in the area.

The port hopes to redevelop the waterfront area over the next 15 years. The redeveloped area will cover 45 acres and have roughly 9-million square feet of commercial, retail and office space. The port’s proposed development also includes hotels, a park, and a marina.

It is the second major project announced for the area south of downtown. A $1 billion mixed-used project was proposed for the area by Tampa Bay Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik last fall.

If the proposed towers were to be built, they would be two of the tallest buildings in the nation. The two tallest buildings in Florida now are the 64-story Four Seasons Hotel Miami and the 42-story Bank of America Tower in Jacksonville. Manhattan’s second tallest residential tower, One57, has just as many floors as the proposed buildings.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, keeps an official tally of the world’s tallest buildings. The tallest building on earth is the 163- story Burj Khalifa in Dubai at 2,717 feet tall.
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