San Diego

San Diego has received three proposals to buy and develop the former Sears store site in Hillcrest, but City Manager John Lockwood said Monday he would not unseal them until this morning.

At the urging of former Councilman Bill Cleator, the city bought the 12-acre Cleveland Avenue parcel for $9 million in 1986 as a prospective site for a new central library. But when council members later rejected that plan, they decided to sell the land for at least $9.5 million to any developer who would close the deal by June, 1988.

Lockwood said the city’s Property Department had received three proposals by the 3 p.m. deadline Monday, but he said he would not open them until this morning because there was still a chance that council members, scheduled to meet Monday in closed session, might ask him to extend the deadline.

Even after they are opened, Lockwood said, he will not disclose the plans or suggest purchase prices until the Property Department and his office analyze the proposals and make a recommendation to the council.

Requests for the proposals asked developers to consider building a mixture of homes and retail stores on the site.

A financial consultant has told the council that the property would bring in $5.8 million to $7.2 million, leaving the city a loser on the deal.