After decades of disinvestment and false starts, Beth Ernat thinks downtown Saginaw may have finally found the jump-start it needs with the sale of the Bancroft and Eddy Place apartments.

“We’ve always anticipated once this project came to reality that this could be the catalyst for a major revitalization for downtown,” said Ernat, the director of the Saginaw Downtown Development Authority.

“For the last 30 years, it has been forgotten, but now with the addition of AT&T employees, Michigan Works! and the demolition of the hotel and International Center, it is the prime time to bring people in.”

Lakeshore Management LLC, the company that purchased the Bancroft and Eddy properties, was chosen from among the five proposals received for developing the buildings, said Katie Bach, media affairs director for Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

“The proposals were weighted by five criteria,” Bach noted. “Ability to execute, community support, the development team, financing and bid amount.”

She added that the ability to execute and community supported counted for twice as much in deciding which proposal to accept.

Ernat noted there were no guaranteed incentives involved with the transaction, though Lakeshore has applied for a grant under the Obsolete Properties Rehabilitation Act, which would allow a zone to be created where the properties owned by Lakeshore would be frozen at their present taxable value for up to 12 years.

City Assessor Lori Brown determined the buildings had a 2012 taxable value of $28,561 for Eddy Place and $159,670 for Bancroft during a December 2012 inspection. OPRA requires buildings which were previously tax-exempt the year prior, like Bancroft and Eddy Place, to receive a special assessment.

The application is expected to be voted on by Saginaw City Council when it meets at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22.