Butler, the chairman of Covington-based Corporex Cos., hopes his Daniel Libeskind-designed condominium tower proposed for Covington's riverfront will promote more unity between the Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati riverfronts.

The crescent-shaped building will offer 75 to 85 luxury condominium units. All will have views of downtown Cincinnati.

Aside from the tower's sweeping curves, designed to maximize the views, it will have a sharply-angled roof that will start at the 11th floor and end at the 18th. Each level will have a terrace.

Many aspects of the project - including exterior materials and colors and the costs - must be finalized before Butler hopes to break ground in the spring, with an opening in September 2006.

It is to be built west of the entrance to the suspension bridge, on the Coach & Four restaurant's former location.

Jay Chatterjee, former dean of the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning at the University of Cincinnati, said Saturday that he had not seen images of the project, but has high respect for Libeskind's work.

"If it comes to fruition, I think it would be a very welcome addition to Cincinnati," Chatterjee said.

"I hasten to say that we're only at the conceptual stage," Butler said. "These exterior shades and different devices will all change. What is fixed at this time is the structure's shape. But the detail of the structure and how it fits into the neighborhood - and how it fits into the skyline - has yet to be worked out."

Libeskind is the acclaimed architect who won the competition to design the new buildings at the site of the World Trade Center.

Butler said Libeskind will work closely with Covington city officials and residents of surrounding neighborhoods in deciding the colors and surfaces of the building's exterior.

"I hope it will generate ideas about what the Banks ought to be - or could be," Butler said about the proposed Banks urban neighborhood, which Cincinnati and Hamilton County officials want to build in the area between Paul Brown Stadium and the Great American Ball Park, across the river.

Butler, who developed Covington's RiverCenter towers, grew up a few blocks south near Covington's 14th and Greenup streets.

He hopes the building will help cement a unity between the Ohio and Kentucky shores of the Ohio River.

Covington Mayor Butch Callery predicts it will get everyone's attention: "I thought it was really unique," he said. "There would be nothing like it in the area. I'm talking about Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana."

"It would add a dramatic flair to the riverfront area," Callery said. "It would bring a lot of folks with disposable incomes to live here, and I think it'd have a financial impact on the area."

Area residents who were shown images of the building Saturday said they were impressed.

"We're all for it. We're for Northern Kentucky," said Nancy Tolle of Fort Thomas. "They're starting to build up Covington."

"Our riverfront looks very nice - viewed from the Cincinnati side," agreed her husband, Kevin Tolle.

"I think it looks good," said Latonia Tebelman, 17, a resident of Covington's Watkins Street. "It's up to date and it just looks hot."

E-mail mrutledge@enquirer.com