Developers seeking to build an office complex on Waterman Drive vow not to abandon plans if the South Portland City Council refuses to allow for a four-story building that exceeds height limits.

Developer Andrew Ingalls said last week he is prepared to submit an alternative plan for a three-story building that meets existing height rules for the village-commercial zone but has a larger footprint on the site.

Both plans call for a building that is roughly 30,000 square feet.

“No matter what happens, we’re building something,” said Ingalls, a commercial real estate broker and managing partner with Reed Hart, the site owner. “There’s a critical mass we need to reach to cover our costs.”

At issue is a plan to develop a high-end office complex on an acre site where Beale Street Barbeque and Grill has operated since 2000.

The four-story building would house eight office condominiums with water views on the second, third and fourth floors. Each office suite would be about 4,000 square feet.

Retail shops and a restaurant would occupy the ground floor.

The office condos would be marketed to lawyers and other white-collar professionals, who would rather buy than lease office space, Ingalls said.

“The idea of bringing up to 100 higher paid professionals to the area will be a terrific economic boost,” Ingalls said.

But the project exceeds the 35-foot height limit allowed for buildings in the village-commercial zone. The building would be 47-feet tall, offering views of the Fore River and Casco Bay Bridge.

Ingalls plans to ask the city council to make the site part of the Knightville Design District, which extends along Ocean Street and allows for four-story buildings. Buildings in the design district can be up to 50 feet tall and do not have to be set back 15 feet from the property line.

The developer has requested a public hearing before the planning board on April 10 at 7 p.m. in City Hall. The planning board will make a recommendation on the zoning change before sending it to the council for a vote.

But some residents who live in a modest neighborhood behind the site say they will make their opposition to zone change known at the public hearing.

“If we have a written standard, we need to stand by it and not change the rules every time some developer with money wants to do something,” said Steven Ross, who owns a duplex at 69 B St., near Waterman Drive.

“That office building will block my views and all the sunlight,” said Ross, who has owned his two-story home since 1983.

Ross said he has watched tiny B Street change from largely residential to a mixed-use neighborhood that includes Bowdoin Medical Center, a sprawling one-story building at the corner of B and Ocean streets.

“There’s too much traffic on these side streets,” said Ross.

Rommy Brown, who chairs the Knightville Mill Creek Neighborhood Association, says her group supports development at the site but does not want a four-story building. Brown said 16 members of the association voted last week “in favor of a larger three-story building.”

“We are enthusiastic about redevelopment,” she said, “but our group feels a four-story building is out of scale with the neighborhood.”

Ingalls hopes to allay neighborhood concerns and show why he believes a taller building is a better fit for the site.

He noted that the foundation would be smaller on a four-story building – allowing for more landscaping and visual appeal along Waterman Drive.

He also would build the office complex on the northwest corner of the one-acre lot, closer to the waterfront and farther away from homes on B and C streets. Ingalls said he will not have that flexibility under the rules for the village-commercial zone.

“When we’re done, this will be a $6 million project,” said Ingalls, president of Ingalls Commercial Brokerage on Ocean Street.

“We’re going from $6,000 in tax revenues to the city to approximately $85,000. This is a quality project.”

Ingalls said he already has been approached by restaurant owners interested in the ground-floor space. He feels confident the office condo units will sell quickly, since it is nearly impossible to find waterfront office space for sale in downtown Portland. “I don’t know of any,” Ingalls said.

Ingalls also is bullish about the economic future of the Knightville-Mill Creek area. He recently moved his own offices from downtown Portland to Ocean Street, near Mahoney Middle School.

As managing partner with Hart, Ingalls oversees development of the site. Eric Hartglass, founder of Mister Bagel, and Portland eye surgeon Frank Reed are the site owners. “We’re all local,” Ingalls said.

Ingalls said his idea to develop the site “came like an epiphany,” after Hartglass approached him about developing it.

“I wasn’t at the site for more than five minutes when I knew what I wanted to do,” Ingalls said. “Building an office is a perfect fit. The views here are undisturbed. This fits the city’s master plan for economic growth.”

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