NORTHAMPTON — The city is accepting bids from developers for the former Hampshire Registry of Deeds building at 33 King St. with a minimum bid of $2.5 million required for the downtown property.

The building is located on a 1.46-acre parcel next to the Calvin Theater and across from Hotel Northampton and was built around 1975. It has been vacant since 2019 and recently had ownership transferred from the state to the city. The city’s request for proposals (RFP) calls for the current building to be torn down and replaced with a newer multi-story building.

The Northampton City Council unanimously approved putting out an RFP containing bid information in September and advertised it last month. Bids may be submitted over the next three months, with the deadline to submit a bid July 10 at 1 p.m.

The proposals will then be opened and recorded by the city. Late submissions and unsigned proposals will not be accepted. Bidders will have a right to cancel by Aug. 9, and a closing date is expected in October.

The RFP lists several requirements that bids will be graded on to determine their viability for Northampton, such as demonstrating a financial benefit to the city greater than $4 million. Another requirement is for housing with a 60-40 split of market rate housing and affordable housing given the greatest consideration and fewer points given to housing ratios with lower percentages of market rate housing. Building proposals that are six stories or higher also are given greater favorability.

The future development also has the potential for the creation of new parking spaces downtown, an issue important to many business owners as the city looks to eliminate 57 downtown parking spaces as part of its planned redesign of Main Street. Bids that include 50 or more parking spaces will be considered highly advantageous, with projects providing between 21 and 49 spaces also given consideration, according to the RFP.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.