Brian Sharp

@SharpRoc

Forgotten in the debate about Midtown's Parcel 5 is the corner lot at East Broad and South Clinton dubbed Parcel 2, and it appears to have a buyer and a plan.

First the plan: A six-story mixed-use retail, office and residential building with outdoor space fronting Elm Street.

Mayor Lovely Warren laid out Buckingham Properties and Morgan Communities' plan in legislation sent to City Council on Thursday. The developers, who own Tower280, would buy the lot for $650,000, and the adjacent pedestrian corridor for $110,000. Retail would fill the first floor, with Class A office space on the second and third, and apartments on floors four through six.

Construction will not start until the developer has financing in place and leases for the commercial space. If that does not occur within 18 months from the date the property is transferred, Warren wrote, "the city will re-acquire Parcel 2 and return the $650,000 purchase price."

This is the corner of Midtown where demolition began in late September 2010, when then-Mayor Robert Duffy took the controls of an excavator and smashed a hole in the wall of the former shopping complex. The city issued a request for development proposals on the .79-acre lot back in August 2015. Buckingham submitted the lone proposal, a fact the city confirmed last August.

Despite the time lag in reaching this point, Warren spokesman James Smith said there weren't any red flags and "no out-of-the-ordinary bumps in the road."

"Obviously, the design is really important," said City Council member Elaine Spaull, whose east district encompasses downtown. But when it comes to the choice in developers, she called it "a no-brainer." "Basically, it's in their front yard."

Buckingham managing partner Ken Glazer and Morgan CEO Robert Morgan did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

BDSHARP@Gannett.com