New London _ The City Council on Monday night got its first glimpse of the five proposals for development of the former Lighthouse Inn property.

The proposals will not be released to the general public until next Monday's City Council meeting.

The council spent nearly two hours reviewing the proposals behind closed doors Monday with Tammy Daugherty, director of the Office of Development and Planning, Economic Development Coordinator Ned Hammond and City Attorney Jeffrey Londregan.

Acting on a request for proposals, five developers submitted proposals earlier this month to buy the century-old inn, which has three main buildings on 4.2 acres at 48 Guthrie Place. Hammond said developers have proposed everything from a traditional inn to condominiums and apartments.

The request for proposals indicates the city prefers The Mansion on the property be operated as an inn, but will consider other uses. The Mansion, built in 1902, is the main building and has 27 guest rooms, a restaurant, lounge and meeting rooms. The so-called Carriage House was built in 1952 and has 24 additional guest rooms.

The City Council will eventually choose a preferred developer for the property, which the city acquired in 2013 as a result of a tax foreclosure sale. The inn is deteriorating with an assessed value that dropped last year from $3 million to $1.6 million.

The City Council is expected to choose a developer on the basis of the merits of the plan and not solely on the purchase price offer.

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 last year to buy the inn from the city for $100,000 —below the minimum starting bid of $500,000. The City Council unanimously rejected Acri’s offer.

The latest request for proposals does not have a minimum offering price.

The inn, a longtime staple for weddings and special events, closed abruptly in 2008. The former operators of the inn, Christopher Plummer and Maureen Clark, were sentenced to federal prison for defrauding investors of $1.7 million in a resort investment scheme in Mississippi. Some of the money they earned from the scheme was allegedly spent on the Lighthouse Inn.

g.smith@theday.com

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