Dec. 30--STAMFORD -- The YMCA has received six offers on its former hotel, improving its chances of staying downtown.

Interim Chief Executive Officer Mark Ketley said the Y's board of trustees, which owns the building, is negotiating with the prospective buyers and hopes to have a deal signed within weeks.

"The plan is to sell off the hotel part, take the money from the sale, do some renovations, get financially stable and re-open a new Y," Ketley said.

He declined to comment on the details of the offers, including the planned uses for the property, saying he was not at liberty to discuss specifics.

Although the Y called the tower portion of its 909 Washington Blvd. building a hotel, its dormitory-style rooms were much smaller than conventional hotel rooms, and many of its guests used the facility as permanent housing. It was popular with the working poor who could not afford to put down a security deposit on an apartment.

The YMCA put the hotel portion of its building up for sale shortly before it closed Oct. 31 in hopes of finding a developer who would pay enough for the space to allow the YMCA to renovate the fitness center and re-open. At the time, officials said they would sell off the entire property and rebuild at another location if they couldn't find a buyer interested in the hotel only.

With a half-dozen offers on the table, Ketley said it's "not likely" they will have to start over at a new address. The YMCA has been at its current location since 1974.

"Our main focus right now is staying in the downtown location where we are at," he said.

The plan is to re-open the fitness center and pool and make family aquatics programs the centerpiece of the new organization.

"The pool is going to be the main focus on our new Y, no question," Ketley said. "We are going to build on that, and we should, because there's really nowhere for families to swim."

Y officials attributed a steep drop-off in membership to the pool closing in May. By summer, membership had dwindled to about 1,000 members.

In July, the YMCA announced it would close at the end of October because declining membership left it about $200,000 in the red each year and unable to keep up with maintenance. Needed repairs to the building were estimated at $5 million to $7 million. At the time, Y leaders were negotiating with a developer to purchase the property but the deal fell through.

The city assessed the 0.7-acre property at $8.1 million last year.

Mayor Dannel Malloy proposed moving the YMCA to the Edward Hunt Recreation Complex on Courtland Avenue, but the Board of Representatives shot down the idea. Members said it would be too large a development for the site and would generate too much traffic.

The fitness center and 132-room hotel closed Oct. 31, though the YMCA continues to run after-school programs for children in the building. With no dues-paying members, the organization is relying on fees from its after-school programs and donations to make ends meet. The board of trustees has dipped into its endowment to pay the skeleton staff, utility bills and mortgage, Ketley said.

Fundraisers to cover operating costs are underway. The first, held at the Salt Water Grille restaurant last month, raised more than $30,000, Ketley said. More events are planned.

Real estate industry experts said most likely the hotel tower will most likely be redeveloped as housing or a commercial hotel.

Tom O'Leary, a commercial real estate broker with Cushman & Wakefield Inc. in Stamford, said the property is an ideal location for an extended-stay hotel because it is compatible with a Y and within "walking distance to everything."

Rick Redniss, a land-use consultant who looked at the property for clients earlier in the year, said the site is desirable, in part because it is in the "central city district north" zone, which allows for some of the largest and most intense developments. Hotels, apartment buildings, retail stores, office buildings, restaurants, schools, theaters, surgical out-patient centers, bowling alleys and funeral parlors are among some of the permissible uses.

"There is a tremendous amount of flexibility in terms of what goes there, and with the proximity to the city garage, you don't need any parking for retail that goes there," Redniss said.

He said the location is ideal for affordable housing, if the Y can find a developer that can make it work, or a boutique hotel.

Malloy said offers on the building are a hopeful sign the YMCA will rebound from its financial problems.

"The Y is a wonderful organization, and if it can rebuild itself, it's great," Malloy said. "We tried to find ways to keep them, so if they have a business plan that works, it's wonderful."

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