TAMPA - Two developers are proposing a 26-story apartment building at Tampa and Tyler streets downtown.

The project would have 404 apartments, 16,000 square feet of shops and a parking garage.

The developers, Intown Group and Crosland, will ask the city council to rezone the property at a hearing at 6 p.m. Jan. 29. They want approval for the building's height and design, which they say will be an art deco style comparable to New York City's Chrysler Building and Empire State Building.

"We know there will be a long-term demand for rental in downtown," said Gregory Minder, Intown Group president.

Intown also is a developer of the Skypoint condominium tower, 777 N. Ashley Drive, and Element, 808 N. Franklin St., which has been converted to apartments and will open in January.

The proposed apartment tower on Tampa Street will be adjacent to the newly rehabilitated Herman Massey Park, 1002 N. Franklin St.

Minder said the developers are awaiting council approval to close on the three lots and get financing. The property includes a parking lot and vacant land.

Crosland, a North Carolina developer, also is planning a five-story, 350-unit complex of market-rate apartments and 12,700 square feet of retail at the southeast corner of Lois Avenue and Spruce Street in the West Shore area. It has contracted with another group to construct a six-story building of up to 160 affordable apartments for seniors on the property.

Reporter Jose Patino Girona can be reached at (813) 259-7659.