Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele outlined plans last week for a $120-million dollar, 44-story hotel and apartment building along the city's lakefront. The vision includes restaurants, retail and parking in the redevelopment, which would become one of the tallest buildings in the state.

The developer, Rick Barrett, is calling the proposed building The Couture. The proposal includes tearing down the existing Milwaukee Transit Center and replacing it with the building designed by Rinka Chung Architecture Inc.

"This project will be a great addition to the Milwaukee Lakefront, bringing jobs and a strong tax base for decades to come," Mr. Abele said in a statement to the press.

The Couture would be a major improvement since the center of the city is suffering from a lack of housing, Alderman Robert Bauman told the Journal Sentinel.

It will take 10 to 16 months to tear down the transit center which currently occupies the site, and 28 months to build the 44-story tower, according to Mr. Abele.