SAN JOSE — For the first time in nearly a decade, city officials have a serious offer to buy the historic Hayes Mansion, a perennial drain on the city’s operating fund despite millions of public dollars spent renovating it as a conference center.

According to city documents, the offer comes from Global Bancorp Commodities and Investments, an entity formed in Florida but based out of San Diego. The man listed as a negotiator for the company is Adrian Glover, a global brand officer for Global Bancorp.

Glover told this newspaper Tuesday that Global Bancorp, which works with at least 20 hotel operators and brands, including Pacific Pearl and Vintage Hotels, is looking at acquiring properties in San Francisco and Napa Valley.

But the San Jose mansion stood out because it has “national historical interest.”

“I’ve known about this property for a number of years, and San Jose is a market where we want to make investments,” Glover said. “It’s a great asset. We’re looking for properties in the area with destination qualities like this one.”

The council discussed the offer — which sources say is one of the most serious and “lucrative” the city has seen — during a closed-session meeting last week. Glover would not disclose the terms of the offer.

Councilman Ash Kalra, whose district includes Hayes Mansion, says past potential buyers have been scared off by the mansion’s massive debt, which is nearly double the property’s value.

“The entire time I’ve been on the council I’ve never actually seen a serious offer,” said Kalra, who has been the District 2 councilman for eight years. “I’ve seen inquiries, but never a serious offer.”

Despite current operator Dolce International’s impressive performance, the conference center remains a drag on city finances because of debt payments on $65 million in bonds the city sold to renovate it in the early 1990s.

The current debt on the historic Edenvale Avenue property is estimated at $40 million.

“Someone coming in is paying approximately twice the property value,” Kalra said. “But the economy is doing better now, and people have expendable income.”

The Spanish Colonial Revival-style manor was built in 1905 and named after Mary Folsom Hayes Chynoweth, whose family made its fortune mining iron in the Great Lakes area. She settled in San Jose in 1887. The Hayes heirs, who ran newspapers that eventually became the San Jose Mercury News, sold the paper and most of the estate in the mid-1950s.

The property changed hands several times over the next two decades. The mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and declared a city landmark in 1981.

The city bought the mansion in 1985 for $2.5 million, but it sat vacant until city officials reached a deal in the 1990s with a partnership called Hayes Renaissance to turn it into a conference center.

The city tapped Dolce International, a New Jersey-based hospitality company specializing in conference hotels, in 2004 to take over management.

While the lush mansion, often reserved for private conferences and weddings, earns enough revenue to cover its annual operating expenses — about $18 million a year — the city is on the hook for debt payments. That costs San Jose anywhere from $2.1 million and $4.7 million each year until 2027, said Julia Harper Cooper, the city’s director of finance.

“The debt is too high, and we need to correct the situation,” said Councilman Tam Nguyen. “We’ve been losing too much money on it, so I’d be happy to have someone with the financial ability to preserve it and make it better.”

Yves Hansel, general manager of Hayes Mansion, was unavailable for comment.

Kalra says it’s important that any potential buyer invest in the property and maintain its primary use as a luxurious hotel. The Hayes Mansion includes 33,000 square feet of conference rooms, office space and 214 guest rooms and suites, in addition to two restaurants and a day spa.

“My interest is that anyone coming forward with an offer to buy the Hayes Mansion is to make sure the buyer has experience with and is interested in operating a first-rate hotel and conference center,” Kalra said.

If Global Bancorp is successful in its bid, Glover said, Hayes Mansion would continue operating as a hotel. He said the company isn’t concerned about the debt attached to the mansion and would actually invest in a slew of upgrades.

“Our plan is not to make changes,” Glover said. “But we’ll invest money to upgrade it.”