Empty stores with dark interiors flank the sidewalks of Central Square like missing teeth. Banners announce the relocation of stores that have proudly stood at the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Magazine Street for decades.

The Holmes Realty Trust is poised to demolish this Central Square property. But conflict over the architecture of the building that will rise in place of these stores stopped the wrecking ball in its tracks earlier this month.

Holmes, a family owned business which has owned the property in question since 1915, wants to knock down the existing building and construct a new, more expensive complex for mixed residential and commercial use. The proposed complex--composed of two different buildings--will be 120,000 square feet and 60 to 70 feet at its tallest point, according to Holmes's attorney James J. Rafferty.

Originally the building was to have 12 stories, but the Cambridge Planning Board forced Holmes to scale down the design to seven stories.

The plans have been hotly debated from the start.

Many Cantabrigians say the new building is another step in the highly contested gentrification of Cambridge--and more specifically of Central Square--claiming that renovated facades and more upscale restaurants and stores have and will continue to make rents in the Square rise and drive residents from the area as a result.

The new Holmes plans do not conform to Cambridge zoning laws and, therefore, must be approved by the Cambridge Planning Board. The proposed height and square footage of the building exceeds zone limits, according to Scott Levitan, a member of the Central Square Advisory Committee (CSAC).

The city has dragged its feet throughout the process, according to Stuart W.Pratt, one of Holmes' three trustees.

"It's a total embarrassment to anyone in myindustry that a city could be so poorly run toallow such a transgression of the developmentprocess," Pratt says. "It's ridiculous."

Holmes first presented its plans to cityagencies at a meeting in March of last year.

Since then, Holmes has redesigned its plansseveral times per the city's request. On Feb. 3Holmes was again forced by the Planning Board torevise its plans.

Members of the Cambridge community developmentdepartment say their concerns lie with theaesthetics of the building and any changes it maybring to the feel of the Square.

"The Board members indicated their points ofview on the design and asked that the developmentshift in height away from the Karl Baron Plaza,"says Lester W. Barber, director of land use andzoning in Cambridge's Community DevelopmentDepartment.

The Board members also requested that thedevelopers redesign the interior courtyard thatlinks the two buildings of the complex, Barbersays.

"The Planning Board members felt that thedesign of the development has negative impacts onthe location in Central Square," says Liza M.Paden, assistant land use planner for theCommunity Development Department.

The Board must ensure that the developmentmeets the overlay district guidelines under which"the development must look like it belongs inCentral Square and fits in the fabric of CentralSquare," according to Paden.