Brian Sharp

@SharpRoc

Developers are preparing to start work the first week of May

The %2459M project includes retail%2C office space %26 179 apartments

Larry Glazer%3A If all goes as planned%2C residents should start moving in next spring

Bids for Midtown Tower construction came in Friday, and developers say they are preparing to start work the first week of May.

The $59 million project envisions retail and office space along with 179 apartments, of which 15 percent must be affordable to low-income residents. Passersby might already have noticed a crane and construction hoist erected at the site. Next will come delivery of materials, some further demolition, mechanical work.

"We'll be doing the roof and skin of the building at the same time, so there will be a lot of people there," said Larry Glazer, whose Buckingham Properties is partnering with Morgan Management on the project.

The plan is to spend the next couple of weeks "sorting out the numbers," selecting subcontractors and going through the organizational hierarchy. If all goes as planned, residents should start moving in next spring, Glazer said. Developers, meanwhile, plan to meet in early May with the city administration about their overall vision, which could include a multiplex movie theater extending onto the corner lot at East Broad Street and South Clinton Avenue.

BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/sharproc