Town Center will ultimately feature 17 square blocks of retail, residential, office, hospitality, entertainment offerings and ample parking facilities in the city's central business district. Phase III, the portion that is currently up for approval, will consist of a 215-room Westin Hotel featuring 104 condominiums on the top several floors and a restaurant at the ground level.

If all goes as planned, the approximately 30- to 32-foot tower will become the tallest structure in the Hampton Roads submarket. The hotel/condo building would be the jewel of the third phase which, at a projected cost of $130 million, would also include additional office and retail space.

Phase I of Town Center, which got under way in summer 2000, brought a 23-story office structure to the 21-acre site, as well as the Hilton Garden Inn and a segment of retail space. Ground broke in February on the second phase; the $116-million segment will center on a 341-unit apartment building surrounded by a public plaza to be called Town Center Square, and yet more retail options. If Phase III receives the "thumbs up," it will open up for business and residency in 2007.