46°

State officials have described the offer as "acceptable" and have laid aside a plan to hire a local real estate agent to find a buyer for the former Alaska Seafood International plant. The plant was shut down last fall.

State officials have declined to provide details, but staff members of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority said they've received a firm offer to buy the plant and will recommend that the agency's board of directors accept it at their meeting next month.

The company that made the proposals asked that AIDEA keep its identity and offering price confidential until the board considers it next month, Miller said.

Miller described the potential buyer as an Outside firm that is involved in investing and real-estate development and said its plans for the property include light manufacturing, distribution and cargo handling.

The agency will make a public notice before next month's board meeting alerting other interested buyers that it has an offer asking them for competing bids, Miller said.

"We expect other offers to come in," he said.

AIDEA financed the plant as part of a program to diversify Alaska's oil-dependent economy. It was built specifically for lease to Alaska Seafood International, which planned to turn raw fish into heat-and-eat entrees for sale worldwide.

But ASI's business plan failed, and the company abandoned the venture last fall, sticking AIDEA with an empty plant.

In March, the agency's board of directors approved a plan to hire a local real estate broker to take the lead in finding a buyer for the property. Specifically, AIDEA sought brokerages licensed in Alaska that could demonstrate an expertise in selling industrial properties and could market the property internationally.

The selected firm was to get a marketing budget of up to $10,000, plus a commission amounting to 4 percent of the first $20 million in sale price, and 1.5 percent for each additional $10 million.