A $285 million hotel and condo building is planned for Midtown Atlanta just north of the massive 12th & Midtown project.

Tivoli Properties, developer of the Aqua condo building and the Mezzo and Tenside apartments, plans to build a 53-story building with a Mandarin Oriental Hotel and 71 condos whose prices will range from $1.8 million to $15 million.

Neither the hotel market nor the condo market is strong, but Scott Leventhal, Tivoli’s CEO and president, said “now is a great time to be in the planning stage.”

With the federal government taking an active role in trying to help real estate recover, “we’re going to see a much brighter future in the capital markets, probably sooner rather than later,” Leventhal said.

He said construction could begin next year and finish in late 2011 if condo presales and financing fall into place. Soaring more than 700 feet, the tower would be built on just under an acre. Tivoli bought the land then conveyed it to the Fulton County Development Authority to offset future property taxes.

Mandarin Oriental is a luxury brand with hotels in Boston, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington.

The Atlanta Mandarin Oriental would have 198 rooms and compete with the Four Seasons, the Mansion on Peachtree and the partially built St. Regis for Atlanta’s priciest lodgings.

Leventhal said construction would take approximately 30 months. About half the units should go under contract before construction begins, he said.

Tivoli has started a “founders program” for the project in which the first 30 buyers to reserve condominiums will receive $75 a square foot discounts.

The average condo size will be 2,700 square feet, so that’s a price cut of more than $200,000, Leventhal said. Tivoli says 19 buyers already have made reservations.

Mezzo, a Tivoli project two miles north of the new project site, was to be condos but recently was switched to luxury apartments because of softness in home sales.

Tivoli is hosting an invitation-only event Saturday at the High Museum to introduce the Mandarin Oriental project to a well-heeled audience.