Closed for nearly three years and given up for dead, the Manchester Inn may be reincarnated.

Four investment groups toured the downtown hotel Wednesday morning — a mandatory walk-through for those interested in buying the property from the city — and most of them walked away with the same impression: If it’s turned into a combination boutique hotel/apartment complex and the ballroom can be consistently rented, the Manchester Inn can be profitable and return to its glory days when it simply was called “The Hotel.”

The 91-year-old Manchester Inn & Conference Center was purchased by the city in March 2011 for $175,000. City officials forgave about $150,000 in debt on the hotel as part of a bundle of downtown properties when it appeared Cincinnati State Technical and Community College was going to use the Manchester as part of its culinary and hospitality programs, but that never developed.

The city recently prepared a 14-page Request For Proposals hoping to find an investor willing to renovate the Manchester and open a business that matches the “vision of the city,” said Judy Gilleland, city manager. The deadline for proposals is the first week in December, she said.

Hamet said the city would like to make a decision on the Manchester by the end of the year.

The asking price is $325,000, and city leaders have said they’re willing to consider investing part or all of the purchase price back into the “right project.” Also, the city may consider completing a deal that would involve some cash from the developer to return to taxpayers and a mortgage to finance the remainder of the purchase, city officials said.

During the 90-minute tour, two investment groups publicly expressed the most interest: Mike Robinette, former economic development director and partner of Geo CRE; and Tom Wein, a partner in Remarkable Facilities, a Mason-based company that has a track record of renovating hotels and turning them into profitable businesses.

Toward the end of the tour, Robinette said his investment group may be interested in partnering with another group, so several of the representatives exchanged business cards and potential uses for the hotel.

There were 12 people on the tour, and they represented four investors, said Denise Hamet, the city’s economic development director. They were: Andy Redin, who’s self employed; Denise Blake from the Miller-Valentine Group; Robinette; and Wein, who brought two investors.

Hamet said she was pleased by the number of investors, their diversity, knowledge and talent. She said that if everyone works together, the groups could produce “a very good product.”

Hamet said the tour revealed that there are mold issues in the hotel, and the leaking roof has severely damaged the wooden floor in the ballroom that the investors said was the centerpiece of the project because there aren’t large banquet centers in the Middletown area.

Since 1995, nearly $2 million was spent renovating the guest rooms, corridors, lobby and front desk, and to the ballroom and kitchen after pipes burst in 2009.

Whoever buys the Manchester must be willing to spend millions of dollars on repairs. Gilleland said it’s been estimated that to repair the mechanics in the building would cost $5 million. Total restoration has been estimated between $8 million to $20 million, according to the proposal.

Certain floors in the hotel were musty and some of those on the tour wore masks because of the asbestos.

The proposal said that interested parties should assume that all mechanical equipment, including HVAC, hot water, boiler and individual room units are non-functioning and will likely need replaced.

Hamet called the Manchester “very functional with the right use.”

Wein said that use may be a combination hotel and apartment building. He envisions converting 4o of the 78 hotel rooms into 15 to 20 apartments and leaving the other 40 as hotel rooms. He was excited about the prospect of Cincinnati State students living in the apartments and walking to class and knowing that the next nearest hotel was located at Interstate 75 and Ohio 122.

Hamet rattled off the success of several downtown projects, and told the investors: “If you believe in the future, get in and make it work.”

Wein said his former investment group renovated a hotel in Syracuse, N.Y., that had been closed for 35 years. The repairs began in 2000, it opened two years later, and it has received numerous awards, he said.

“This can happen,” he said.

He asked whether the city has completed a feasibility study that may show if the downtown could support a hotel. Hamet said that the occupancy rate in the Manchester was low toward the end of its existence and it has been reported the former owners, the late Perry Thatcher and the late Bill Akers Sr., lost money for years.

Hamet said to be successful, the Manchester will need investors who will “take a leap of faith.”

Interest in the former Manchester Inn & Conference Center remains strong, said Denise Hamet, Middletown’s economic development director.

On Thursday morning, three investors toured the former downtown hotel for the second time this month, she said. The city has given investors a Dec. 5 deadline to submit their proposals for the Manchester Inn, and Hamet said those ideas will be presented to City Council for approval before the end of the year.

Hamet said if the necessary federal and state financial assistance is secured, there’s a “good chance” the Manchester Inn will be sold. The city is asking $325,000, and renovations to the hotel are estimated between $8 million to $20 million, according to the 14-page proposal the city prepared.

Those who toured the Manchester for the second time included Mike Robinette, former economic development director for the city and partner of Geo CRE; Tom Wein, a partner in Remarkable Facilities, a Mason-based company that has a track record of renovating hotels and turning them into profitable businesses; and Jackie Hunter, an agent with Coldwell Banker.

Robinette was accompanied by construction experts, who determined that the 91-year-old Manchester Inn is structurally solid, he said.

He said the only way buying the Manchester Inn, which closed nearly three years ago, makes economic sense is for state and federal tax credits to be obtained.

“There is an opportunity there,” Robinette said.

Years ago, the Hamiltonian faced a similar fate. The downtown hotel was purchased by Concord Hospitality Enterprises in 2007, remodeled extensively and reopened as a Courtyard by Marriott Hamilton.

Robinette said he’s drawn to the Manchester because of its downtown location, ballroom that holds more than 600 people, and ample parking. He believes the best approach will be converting about half of the 78 hotel rooms into apartments, which will give the owners flexibility if the market changes in five or 10 years, he said.

He said his investment group hasn’t decided if it will make a proposal to purchase the Manchester.

Wein said if the economics and demand for the banquet center and hotel space are positive, his company probably will submit a proposal.

“I like the potential,” he said.

The Manchester was purchased by the city in March 2011 for $175,000. City officials forgave about $150,000 in debt on the hotel as part of a bundle of downtown properties when it appeared Cincinnati State Technical and Community College was going to use the Manchester as part of its culinary and hospitality programs, but that never developed.