A development company is planning an upscale retail development on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood that would include about 200,000 square feet of shops, a hotel and parking.

The project would be built on the site now occupied by the Tiffany Theater, a vacant lot and other property in the vicinity of Alta Loma Road, according to West Hollywood city officials.

Though no formal plans have been filed, officials say they have had preliminary discussions with Mark Siffin of Maefield Development Corp.

“There’s nothing concrete yet. He’s shopping it around,” said Lester Burg, a development specialist for the city of West Hollywood. “It looks like a pretty impressive, prestigious development.”

Siffin, who also has been talking to neighbors about his plans, declined comment on the project, saying he is not yet ready to discuss it.

West Hollywood Mayor Steve Martin, however, said he expects formal plans to be submitted in 30 to 60 days.

“(The project) takes an area that has not been pedestrian friendly and changes it. It’s going to be a big plus for the Sunset Strip,” Martin said. “The strip is constantly reinventing itself.”

Martin added that “we’re trying to avoid the ‘minimall-ization’ of the strip and have projects that are flagship developments.”

Daniel Blatteis of Blatteis Realty Co. is already lining up tenants for the project, which he said would have the same kind of tony boutiques found along the nearby Sunset Plaza.

“It will be upscale, Madison Avenue retail, a continuation of Sunset Plaza,” Blatteis said.

The project, which is being designed by the architecture firm Gensler in Santa Monica, would be the first to be built under the Sunset Specific Plan, which went into effect about 18 months ago and encourages development in the area, Martin said.

He said the project would be a “fairly massive development,” but fits within the plan.

Bettie Wagner, a neighborhood activist who lives above the strip, also gave the plan rave reviews. “Sunset Plaza is marvelous and this is more or less an extension,” she said.

Wagner said parking and traffic are “always going to be a concern,” but said that under the plans she saw there would be more than enough parking.

Wagner also said she knows of no major opposition from residents.

The hotel portion would be at the corner of La Cienega and Sunset boulevards, with the entrance off Sunset and a delivery entrance on Alta Loma, Martin said.

City officials say the Tiffany Theatre playhouse and an adjacent low-rise office building would most likely be razed to make way for the new development. But Siffin, in a brief interview, said “not necessarily.”

He declined further comment, but West Hollywood Community Development Director Ray Reynolds said a cinema may be incorporated into the project. “There’s some talk of a movie theater,” Reynolds said. “It’s a newer idea.”

Martin said even with several high-profile hotels in West Hollywood, there’s room for one more.

“Demand in West Hollywood is phenomenal,” he said. “What West Hollywood has to offer is nightlife and a pedestrian orientation.”

Siffin is based in Indianapolis, where he has been active assembling large pieces of property in Indianapolis for retail centers. He tried to buy a publicly traded company in Kansas City last year, according to the Kansas City Star, but the deal fell apart earlier this year.