A new hotel and upscale restaurant could be coming to Cleveland Circle, and a least part of it would fall on the Brookline side of the town line.

Newton Centre-based Boston Development Group has proposed a 180-room Hampton Inn and Suites hotel, plus 18,000 square feet of medical offices and 9,000 square feet of retail space on the site of the vacant Circle Cinema and adjacent Applebee's restaurant.

The $44 million project could bring in extra tax dollars for the town while eliminating the blight of the deserted theater site, which John Meunier, chief operating officer for Boston Development Group, called a haven for "transient homeless people and vermin."

"We think we can make it work for the site," he said. "We think we can make it work in terms of traffic."

Representatives for the developer showed several possible models for the development at a Town Hall meeting attended by about 60 residents last night. Most focused on the site of former Circle Cinema, which closed in September 2008, because the developer hadn't finalized its purchase of the Applebee's property until last week, Meunier said.

Boston Development has said it plans to invest $44 million in the development of the cinema parcel, not including any work on the Applebee's side of the property. Meunier said new designs that incorporate that site will be available in a few weeks. The developer is also working to negotiate an early termination for Applebee's lease on the site, which still has four years remaining.

"We will now work very quickly to flesh out that part of the plan," Meunier said.

The latest plans show at least part of the hotel on the Brookline side of the town line, meaning the town would be able to collect property taxes on the new building and have a greater say on what is build there. The project would also be subject to zoning and planning review procedures in both Boston and Brookline.

Residents voiced several concerns about the project, mostly around traffic and the height of the building. The developers said the site would have one vehicle entrance at Chestnut Hill Avenue and two exits, at Chestnut Hill Avenue and at Beacon Street. They also discussed the possibility of moving the existing traffic light at the Chestnut Hill Avenue railroad crossing to control traffic coming and going from the site. In fact, the project could lead to opportunities to improve the entire Cleveland Circle intersection, Meunier said.

The height of the building was of particular concern for Clinton Road residents, who live on the other side of the MBTA D line tracks and now have views of the movie theater's tall, white walls. The proposed hotel could be as much as 10 feet higher than the existing building, and some residents said the lights coming from the hotel would make their view even worse.

In response to a question about alcohol service on the site, Meunier said there would only be one liquor license, and it would be for the restaurant, not the hotel. He mentioned The Palm Restaurant and Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse as examples of high-end restaurants that could occupy the site.

"We're not trying to get into the liquor business and serve college students," he said.

Depending on the size of the restaurant, the retail space could also include shops or something like a Starbucks. Other potential tenants that inquired about the site were Walgreen's and two banks.

Walgreen's "desperately tried" to get the site, but Meunier said he heard loud and clear that residents did not want a large pharmacy, and he pledged, "I will not build a Walgreen's." As for the banks, "they're not known for enlivening the street front," Meunier said.