Riedman Properties officials, who hope to develop an Italian market in part of Midtown Plaza, are negotiating with Midtown's owners, trying to get an extension on the city's option to buy the complex.

The city's option expires on February 14. City Council would have to approve the purchase, and Council's next meeting is February 13. Mayor Bob Duffy had hoped to be able to give his recommendation to Council this week, but that has been put off while the Riedman efforts continue.

"We want to give them until the very last minute," Duffy administration spokesperson Gary Walker said on Wednesday.

The city has three choices: exercise the option, let it expire (and pass up the opportunity to buy Midtown), or seek an extension on the option. Midtown's owner wants to sell, and administration officials say they want to be able to have some control over the future of the key downtown site. The goal, if the city buys Midtown, is to sell it to one or more developers.

"The mayor isn't interested in the city being a landlord or a developer," said Walker. "But he's also not interested in having Midtown purchased by a national entity" that might hold it as a speculative investment or resell it quickly. "It's 8.3 acres in the heart of downtown," said Walker.

Discussions are continuing on the proposed Italian market, but no commitment on that project will be made before the city's option expires.

If the city gets an extension, it will still have to decide whether to buy the property. The cost of maintaining the complex, even for a year, is significant, Walker said, and the administration will need to be convinced that it could turn it over to a developer quickly.

"We would have to see something very solid in an agreement between the developer and the Province of Parma," Walker said. "We would want an agreement that a significant part of the property could be transferred expeditiously to the developer. We do not want to be the owner of that property."