Developer Curt Brink of Statehouse West Group is proposing to build a $250 million 27-story project less than a mile away from the Capitol on the 900 block of East Washington Avenue.

Brink’s proposal includes condominiums, office space and follows a recent downtown construction trend of including retail space and parking. A health club, grocery store and two hotels are also planned.

Ald. Judy Olson, District 6, whose district includes the proposed project, said the community has not had a chance to comprehend the size of the proposed building or the amount of retail space and other proposed uses of the facility.

“It’s visionary, it will provoke quite a discussion, and it’s not a bad discussion for Madison to have — to look in the future and decide how we want it to go,” Olson said. “I believe it will be very controversial, and there will be a lot of people saying its just too big for that site.”

Olson said the height of the building violates both city and state laws and is much taller than the city’s Capitol View Preservation Ordinance permits. The ordinance limits buildings within a mile radius of the Capitol to approximately 200 feet, while Brink’s proposal surpasses 500 feet tall.

President of Downtown Madison Inc. Susan Schmitz said the proposal and the surrounding issues needed to be discussed by the city and the public.

“It sure is an opportunity to have some density there and to possibly have businesses located to have a view of the lake,” Schmitz said. “We need to stretch our minds and stretch the possibility and then work it through.”

Olson said the proposed uses of the building are “very intense in a place where we haven’t been contemplating that kind of intensity.” Although the city has focused on job development by inviting and expecting development to occur in the area, no one contemplated a response like Brink’s plan, Olson added.

Schmitz said Brink’s proposal is “exciting” because the East Washington Avenue area is underdeveloped. According to Schmitz, the project would increase job growth on the East Isthmus.

“It would have the opportunity to create that live-work-play environment,” Schmitz said. “We might even get a big company to come to this city and want to be located there because of all these amenities.”

Olson said Brink has anticipated the controversy surrounding his project and has set up a planning studio near the 900 block of East Washington Avenue. Inside the building is a model of the plan, drawings and space to hold meetings.

According to Schmitz, Brink’s original plan will probably be revised many times over the next year, and there will be plenty of opportunities for public input. Schmitz said Brink developed the plan by saying, “if I could do it all, this is what I would want to do.”

“If you don’t start out with your dream, how do you get there? I applaud him for doing it,” Schmitz said.

Olson said Brink will wait about six months before submitting an application for re-zoning of the property.