A developer plans to erect two residential towers on the Upper West Side whose height will eclipse the surrounding buildings.

The newly announced condominiums are across the street from each other at Broadway between West 99th and 100th streets. One will replace a Gristede’s supermarket and the other will be adjacent to the Art Deco Metro Theater. Because the plans comply with zoning limits, they do not need approval from the community board or the Department of City Planning.

The developer, Gary Barnett of Extell Development Corporation, was a principal in the $1.8 billion purchase of property in Donald Trump’s Riverside South.

Mr. Barnett, speaking at a land-use meeting of Community Board 7 this week, said the buildings have been designed with glass, polychrome tiles, and terra-cotta, to reflect the landmark Metro Theater, and will feature mostly two- and three-bedroom apartments, to attract family tenants. The session marked the public unveiling of the plans.

The building at 245 W. 99th St., at the site of the Gristede’s on the west side of Broadway, will have 31 stories, with 73 market-rate apartments. Two townhouses will be demolished to make room for the entrance on 99th Street. At 2628 Broadway, a 37-story building with 65 apartments will rise.

The 37-story tower – the tallest for several blocks – was made possible through the purchase of roughly 70,000 square feet of “air rights” from neighboring Saint Michael’s Church. The cost of the transferred development rights could not be determined, but in a letter to members, the church rector, Reverend Canon George Brandt, said Saint Michael’s used the proceeds to purchase a corner lot at 100th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

“We are now working with a consultant on possible projects for this property which we would like to contain a mission outreach project,” the letter said. The remainder of the proceeds from the sale of the air rights was placed in a fund for the maintenance of the church, the rector said.

The buildings’ height confirmed many neighbors’ fears. At the hearing, which was attended by more than 150 residents, a petition was circulated with 220 signatures opposing the developments. “To dramatically increase the current height of buildings will negatively impact the Upper West Side, recreating the cavernous effect of Wall Street and Midtown,” the petition said.

Mr. Barnett seemed ready for community opposition and came to the hearing, at Young Israel of the West Side on 91st Street, with a land-use lawyer, Paul Selver of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker; a community liaison, Brenda Levin, and his spokesman, George Arzt. The architects for the two buildings made PowerPoint presentations of the developments.

In an unusual gesture, Mr. Barnett sat through the four-hour hearing, which lasted until 11 p.m., to answer questions.

“The buildings will be taller than other buildings in the community, but we hope that with the large amount of open space, they will have a minimum impact on shadows and views,” the developer said.

Following the hearing, Mr. Barnett walked with several community members the several blocks to the sites of the planned buildings.

“They were trying to show me how small the buildings in the neighborhood are, but it did the reverse. The area is not only brownstones, there are several 12- and 20-story buildings,” Mr. Barnett said yesterday.

Despite his attempts to calm the audience’s concerns at the contentious hearing, he said, “I felt like I was engaged in target practice, and the target was me.”

Mr. Barnett has hired Cook + Fox Architects to design the building at 245 W. 99th St. While the ground floor will have retail space along Broadway, the bulk of the residential tower will be set back from the avenue roughly 40 feet.

“We tried to fit in with the character of the neighborhood,” Richard Cook said at the hearing.

Andropogon Landscape Architects is designing a large garden in the courtyard of the building, and fitness company La Palestra is creating a gym and pool.