YOUNGSTOWN — City officials will decide by the end of next month whether to go with the only redeveloping firm that submitted a proposal for the 20 Federal Place downtown building or to start the search again.

“The goal is to have a selection or not have a selection by the end of the year,” said Doug Rasmussen, CEO and managing principal of Steadfast City Economic & Community Partners, the city’s St. Louis-based consulting firm on the 20 Federal Place project.

Bluelofts Inc. of Dallas was the lone respondent to the city’s request for redevelopment proposals for 20 Federal Place by the Sept. 16 deadline.

The plan was to have city council hear a formal presentation from the firm at its Wednesday meeting on its plans for the nine-story downtown building at 20 W. Federal St.

But Rasmussen said that won’t happen.

“We need to spend more time to do more due diligence,” he said.

If the city decides not to go with Bluelofts by the end of the year, Rasmussen said, “We’d evaluate at that time.”

But Rasmussen said, “The information and proposal is trending well. We need to go through additional feedback in December and discuss it with city council. We’re progressing. It’s a normal process with questions from our team and their team explaining their plan. It’s back and forth.”

Rasmussen added: “I don’t view it as a lack of progress. It’s just back and forth on a complicated real estate deal.”

Bluelofts, founded in 2018, has purchased properties in Cleveland, Dallas, Fort Worth and Atlanta with plans to convert them to residential space.

The only project the company completed is the former Ohio Bell headquarters, now called The Bell, in Cleveland that was redeveloped into 367 market-rate apartments with some retail and commercial space available. That happened with the assistance of another developer after its initial partner, Wolfe RE Management LLC, faced foreclosure on its stake in the 16-story property. Wolfe, a frequent Bluelofts partner, lost two other projects to foreclosure, according to The Real Deal, a real estate publication.

The Bluelofts proposal for 20 Federal Place calls for conversion of the building into about 125 housing units – some market-rate apartments and others to lease to the area’s workforce – with commercial space.

Because the city hasn’t accepted the Bluelofts proposal, it is not considered a public record so the details have not been released.

A contractor finished a $7.4 million asbestos abatement and partial demolition project in October at the downtown building. The city received a $6.9 million state grant, announced June 2022, to pay for most of that work.

Desmone Architects, a Pittsburgh firm chosen more than three years ago to redevelop the building, obtained a $10 million state historic preservation tax credit, announced in December, for 20 Federal Place. That credit also comes with a $14 million federal historic preservation tax credit.

The announcement came as a surprise to city officials who didn’t know Desmone had sought the historic tax credit again last year.

The state tax credit requires the city to take the next step forward in redeveloping 20 Federal Place by the start of next year, Rasmussen said. But state officials are agreeable to extending that deadline, he said.

One issue was the delay caused by the May 28 gas explosion at the Realty Tower, a former 13-story building near 20 Federal Place, and its subsequent demolition, Rasmussen said.

A Desmone umbrella organization, 20 Federal Place LLC, has a 40-year lease on the building and controls the tax credits. The lease can be rescinded, and it remains uncertain what role Desmone will play in any potential redevelopment of 20 Federal Place.

Desmone’s application to the state for the tax credits lists an $82.1 million project but doesn’t provide details.

Desmone’s 2021 proposal to the city featured four floors of residential housing with a rooftop restaurant, a floor of leasable office space, a floor of co-working space, a ground floor food hall and activity space, and a parking lot in the basement.

That project, with a cost of $49.1 million, has been discarded.

The city purchased 20 Federal Place in November 2004 after Phar-Mor, a national retail store company, went out of business. The property was the Phar-Mor Centre, the company’s corporate headquarters. Before that, the 332,000-square-foot building was the flagship location of Strouss’ department store for many decades.

There were 19 tenants, taking up about 20 percent of the building before eviction notices were sent in July 2022. Some tenants were given an extension.