South Street Seaport plans are unveiled.

General Growth Properties, the developer that bought Pier 17 from the Rouse Corporation in 2004, has presented preliminary plans to transform the site which include razing the existing mall, relocating the historic Tin Building and designing a tower that could reach over 40 stories.

However, the company's vision to regenerate the area met with some disappointment when it was unveiled at a public meeting last week.

"I thought the whole idea was basically to create this ribbon of public access along the fringe of the island so that people would be able to walk from the Upper West Side to the bridge all the way to the tip of Manhattan," said Dick Berry, principal of Zuberry Associates, the company that developed much of the former Fulton Fish Market area including Historic Front Street.

"I would rather see the waterfront used to bring people to the water rather than having the view blocked by tall buildings built by private companies. I don't want to see us move the water further away."

Though building a tower is one of the concepts General Growth is tossing around, it is not a proposition it is currently bringing together, according to Janell Vaughan, senior general manager of General Growth Properties' Seaport Mall.

Vaughan explained, "Consultants have been hired to determine if hitting the 160 foot deep bedrock underneath the current building-which is built on a turn of the century timber platform--would be too expensive. Our first step is to crunch the numbers and see if it is even a possibility we would like to pursue." Zoning laws require any building more than 40 feet tall in that area would have to be built on the platform.

General Properties does not want to separate the seaport, Vaughan said. "We have to consider the changes that have occurred around us and make our project part of the neighborhood around us. Instead of the Seaport being an island, we want to knit it into the rest of Lower Manhattan. It really is time to reinvent the Seaport."

Changes include projection that population growth in Lower Manhattan is expected to grow by 46% by 2015, Vaughan said.

General Growth is also investigating how to preserve the seaport's rich history and incorporate that into the project by restoring the Tin Building, which fishermen used at the turn of the century to unload their fish from their boats, and move it closer to the edge of the water. They may also work towards incorporating some of the old fish market stalls into the old Fulton Market Building.

Zuberry is hopeful such efforts remain integral to the project. "I do have confidence in the city and their judgment. I just hope the city can help to enable General Growth to do what it needs to do, but be consistent with the historic integrity as well," Zuberry said.