New London - The city is continuing its efforts to sell the Lighthouse Inn and will soon issue a request for proposals to gauge what interest developers have in the former resort inn property, the city's economic development coordinator said Thursday.

Ned Hammond, the point of contact for developers interested in buying the city-owned property, said he has been showing the former inn to potential developers two or three times a month and some developers have sent architects, contractors and designers back to see the property for themselves.

"There is an interest," he told the Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday, "and I'm trying to nurture that interest."

In addition to some developers who have previously expressed an interest in the property, Hammond said he has been in contact with "the premier inn operators in Connecticut and Rhode Island," and has even fielded calls on the inn from as far away as California.

Some of the possible uses suggested by developers, Hammond said, include keeping the property as an inn, turning it into age-restricted housing or developing the land into a small residential neighborhood. One developer even has suggested changing the inn into private condos, but operating a public restaurant from the inn's kitchen.

"Most of the developers who have come in and looked at it are looking for some kind of combination of uses in order to provide something that will enable them to recoup their investment," he said. "Many of them are looking at possibly utilizing the land for other uses, principally residential uses."

Most important, Hammond said, is making sure that whatever is proposed for the Guthrie Place property is something that will work for the developer, the city and the residents around the property, and is done the right way.

"I see the process of soliciting proposals and then having a selection committee where we would review those proposals," Hammond said. "Then we could work with the developers to help them develop their proposal such that it is to the benefit of everyone: them, the residents, the city, everyone."

Currently, the property is in limbo. A tax auction last year failed to elicit a single bid at the minimum price of about $577,000, and in June the City Council rejected the only offer the city received from a developer.

New Haven businessman Anthony D. Acri III, who had bid $1.25 million for the Lighthouse Inn at auction in 2010 but later withdrew his offer, offered to buy the inn from the city for $100,000 - far below the minimum starting bid of $500,000.

Built in 1902, the inn closed abruptly in 2008, but still elicits fond memories among residents of brunches, weddings and special events. Two main buildings on the property, including a 53,000-square-foot mansion and 33,000-square-foot carriage house, together offered 51 guest rooms.

The condition of the shuttered Lighthouse Inn is perpetually deteriorating and the property's assessed value recently dropped from $3 million to $1.6 million, according to the city. The city had been providing security and maintenance for the property as it sought a developer, but recently cut funding for inn upkeep.

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung