A Waikiki developer’s request to raise the legal height limit for a planned high-rise condominium/hotel tower along Kuhio Avenue will go before the Honolulu City Council Zoning Committee on Thursday.

Resolution 14-38 would allow PACREP2 LLC to build the proposed 2139 Kuhio building up to 350 feet high, in excess of the 300-foot height limit for the Waikiki Special Design District.

PACREP envisions a 39-story tower with up to 280 units at Kuhio Avenue and Kaiolu Street, according to documents filed with the Department of Planning and Permitting.

The Los Angeles-based developer is the same group that is spearheading the controversial Ritz-Carlton Waikiki Beach Residences at 2121 Kuhio that won approval for a 350-foot height limit via a 7-2 Council approval in January 2013 despite opposition from members of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board and neighboring residents.

Work on the 2121 Kuhio project, which calls for 38 stories and 309 units at Kuhio and Kalaimoku Street, is already underway and scheduled to wrap up in early 2016.

The two towers are essentially part of the same development since plans call for them to be connected by an eight-story building podium that would contain shared resident services, recreational amenities, vehicular access and off-street parking.

Area residents and neighborhood leaders opposed to the height variance permit have raised concerns about possible violations of height guidelines designed to preserve views and too much density.

In the case of 2139 Kuhio, as with the first tower, the developer is arguing that the height increase will allow for a reduced building area and a thinner building profile.