Several St. John's city councillors said Wednesday they want to learn more about a proposed 15-storey building complex on the city's waterfront before making a decision about it.

The Fortis Properties Corporation wants to retrofit its existing building at the corner of Water and Prescott streets in St. John's and construct a new 15-storey building next to it.

"Well I was not surprised, but I was a little disappointed," Coun. Sandy Hickman told CBC News.

"If they could broaden it a bit, bring it down. I'd be willing to go six, seven stories kind of a thing, maybe even eight. But with me, the bottom line is maintaining the Water Street facade of the old buildings that are adjacent to it."

Hickman would like to see the current style of the area's buildings maintained in any new development there.

Coun. Danny Breen plans to wait and see what city staff and his constituents have to say about the proposal before deciding.

"The biggest issue for me is the streetscape. I mean, I'm more interested in how it looks from the street and maintaining that part of this," said Breen. "That's our job as councillors. Our job is to find balance in these things."

Coun. Tom Hann says he needs to see more details before making up his mind.

"I'm not going to slam the proposal as one of my colleagues did right off the mark," said Hann, referring to comments made by Deputy Mayor Shannie Duff who has already spoken publicly about her opposition to the Fortis Company's plan.

Hann said the look of the facade from Water Street is also an important factor for him. He said he told Fortis that when he met them a couple of months ago.

"If they could do that I think there could be some compromise [from the city] on the height of the building," he said.

The first four floors of the new development would contain retail space on Water Street and 380 parking spots.

The office tower exceeds the city's height restrictions for downtown development, and will need special permission from city hall.