It’s easy to get frustrated with Douglas Development. They sit on vacant properties for years, and occasionally get behind on their taxes (hey, who doesn’t).

But sometimes, after assembling properties one by one until all the pieces fit together, they do something really great.

It’s already happened with the Acme Stove building at the corner of 7th and New York Avenue, which wasn’t looking too good until LivingSocial signed a lease—-seemingly overnight, the structure was immaculately restored in cheery french blue. And last night, Douglas unveiled plans for a massive complex to occupy the rest of the block: An undulating tower set back from the historic buildings below that would draw downtown’s center of gravity even further east.

The proposed development, designed by Shalom Baranes and shooting for LEED Silver, is 380,000 square feet of top-of-the-line office space. Most of the 32,000 square feet of ground-floor retail will be in the site’s old brick buildings, which will be consolidated on 7th Street (by the time they finish the project across the street, Douglas will be experts in moving buildings). In order to not build on top of them, they’re asking for permission to transfer density towards the east end of the site, which would be built up to 130 feet. One side would have wavy fins with rooftop gardens.

Douglas says they’re the only developers in the deal at the moment, and are building on spec—-no tenants yet. Although there seem to be some characteristic LivingSocial logos in those glassy lobby windows.

Full Historic Preservation Review Board application after the jump.

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