A proposal to remove the restrictions on building heights around New York's Grand Central Station aims to encourage new construction in one of the city’s oldest business districts. The Department of City Planning unveiled the plan for midtown east at a Community Board Committee meeting Wednesday.

Planners hope permission to build higher will spur property owners to tear down aging buildings and replace them with modern towers in order to maintain the prestige and density of the district, according to local reports.

The limitations may allow buildings as tall as 1,200 feet (366 meters), Bloomberg predicted.

Developers must still pay for the proposed height approvals, "either by purchasing privately owned air rights over Grand Central Terminal or by contributing to a fund to pay for infrastructure upgrades," the Wall Street Journal reported. The fund will improve accessibility to the subway platforms in Grand Central and a mall on Vanderbilt Avenue.

The specific height and floor area requirements are yet to be proposed, and still must be debated and approved by the City Council.