The city of Spokane has received an offer to buy City Hall.


In addition, city officials have talked with a second potential buyer that said it soon will submit an offer to buy the seven-story building, at 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., and a third party has expressed interest in the property, says Dave Mandyke, the citys deputy director of public works and utilities.


Mayor Jim West and his staff are looking at the first offer, will evaluate any other offers, and are investigating options for where City Hall could move if the city sells its current building, Mandyke says.


City Hall overlooks Riverfront Park to the east and the Spokane River to the north and west. The building, which has housed City Hall since 1982, isnt being marketed for sale, but West has said publicly that it would be available for sale at the right price.


The mayor has consistently said hes concerned about downtown development and the life and vitality of the central business district, Mandyke says. If theres somebody who has a higher and better use for this building, thats great.


Mandyke declines for now to disclose the names of the parties that are interested in buying the building, or the terms of their proposals, but says all three suitors are from Spokane.


The city hasnt had City Hall appraised recently, Mandyke says, and hasnt determined the propertys potential market value yet.


The mayors office likely will need to research any proposals from buyers and also look into possible new homes for City Hall for another month before having any conclusions or proposals to present to the City Council, Mandyke says.


They will take it to the council after it makes economic sense, Mandyke says.


City Hall includes 156,000 square feet of floor space, and city departments currently occupy the entire structure. The city has made several improvements to the building in recent years, including adding a new roof, an exterior facelift, wiring and cabling improvements, and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system upgrades.


In addition to the operations in City Hall, the city has a number of departments that operate in leased space elsewhere and might benefit from consolidating some of its operations at one location, Mandyke says.


For example, he says, the city spends about $1 million a year leasing space for the Police Department and could absorb much of that expense if it were to relocate City Hall and move the department to the new location during a consolidation. The Police Department currently takes space in the countys Public Safety Building and elsewhere.


City officials had talked about selling City Hall in 1999 and consolidating operations. At that time, then-City Councilman Jeff Colliton said the city had been in discussions with Avista Corp. about whether the Spokane-based utility might buy the building and move its corporate headquarters there from East Mission Avenue. Avista spokesman Hugh Imhof says the utility isnt among the suitors for the building currently.


The city bought its current quarters in 1979 and moved there from a building at 221 N. Wall that now is called the Old City Hall Building and is leased out as commercial office space. The current City Hall building previously was occupied by a Montgomery Ward & Co. department store, which built the structure in 1929.