TAMPA - The housing market might be cooling, but another condo project is proposed for downtown.

Miami-based Vancouver Acquisitions Corp. hopes to build a 36-story condo tower with 369 residential units at Tyler, Morgan, Pierce and Cass streets. Plans call for the 400-foot tower to also have about 20,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.

The tower would replace a surface parking lot.

Unit sizes would range from about 700 square feet for studios to more than 3,800 square feet for penthouses. Condo units could begin in the $300,000 range.

"We think it's a perfect mix," said Ron Weaver, a land-use attorney for the project. "In this part of Tampa, you are two or three blocks from everything."

The filing left some in the real estate community questioning whether another condominium could attract buyers in a slowing market. More than two dozen condo projects of various sizes are either under construction or in various stages of the planning process for downtown, including the Channel District.

Phillip Carroll, senior vice president for Key Bank, which has funded several condo projects in Tampa and elsewhere in Florida, said the announcement "is very odd."

Most banks, he said, are reluctant to grant loans on condominiums because Florida cities already have dozens of such projects in trouble, he said.

"Many of these developments are on hold now," Carroll said.

As a result, he said, many banks that do agree to fund condominium towers are requiring a substantial amount of presales. For example, some banks require the presales to equal the cost of the construction loan, Carroll said. On most condo projects, that would mean contracts on about 55 percent of the building.

Nicholas Ekonomou, project manager with Vancouver Acquisitions, said he is confident the project will succeed despite the changing market.

"I think the cool-down is causing everything to cool down," Ekonomou said. "Construction costs are going to settle a little bit. There's still going to be a target."

"This is not an ultraluxury, high-end" condo, Ekonomou said. "It's going to be a modern, live-work environment."

The city council is scheduled to consider the project in December.

Reporter Shannon Behnken contributed to this report. Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius

@tampatrib.com.