A Madison apartment company proposed a new building in the Mansion Hill neighborhood that may require the demolition of several existing historic buildings, including the Highlander Apartments.

The new 59 apartment development from Steve Brown Apartments would replace the Highlander apartments and a house at 127 W. Gilman St., as well as relocate a house at 123 W. Gilman St., Margaret Watson, Chief Operating Officer at Steve Brown Apartments said in an email to The Badger Herald.

“There would be three stylish upper-scale apartment dwellings reminiscent — albeit considerably smaller — of the striking New York and Chicago brownstones of the 1880s and 1890s,” Watson said in the email.

Watson said the proposed plan has both one and two-bedroom apartments, which include “modern amenities,” such as in-house laundry, balconies and high ceilings. The building would also offer 59 underground parking spaces as well as moped and bicycle parking.

Watson did not say the building would necessarily be exclusively for students, but that it would be open to anyone wishing to rent there.

However, Ald. Ledell Zellers, District 2, the city council representative for the area, said the proposal has raised a big concern in the Mansion Hill Historic District.

Zellers said she has heard several concerns from the community regarding the demolition of the Highlander apartment building and the two houses to build the new development. She said people in the neighborhood are worried the demolishing will be a loss of the historic community.

Zellers said the destruction of the two houses in the area to build the building is in “direct contradiction” to a recommendation in the city’s downtown plan, because it is against the recommendation’s idea to rehabilitate the existing housing while encouraging “selective residential infield.”

Watson said the proposed building will do more for the city than the existing Highlander building.

“The new development stands five stories shorter than the Highlander and complies with the city’s new zoning codes,” Watson said. “It enhances the architectural charm and texture of the area. And, it energizes the social and economic life of the area.”

Watson added the building would generate an additional $182,000 in property tax revenue for the city.

Zellers could not make a prediction on whether the proposal will be passed by City Council. She said the Landmarks Commission will decide at their next meeting on whether the proposed buildings are in compliance with the standard of the Historic District and whether the demolishing can proceed.

If approved, construction for the development would begin for the building in the summer of 2014, Watson said.