A long-running attempt by Portsmouth officials to redevelop a former federal building and post office in the heart of downtown appears to be at an end. 

The Portsmouth Herald reported that the federal General Services Administration, which owns the property, told city officials that it planned to move forward with a public sale of the property after the city failed to submit an application to buy the property in time. 

The city had been seeking to acquire the land and its landmarked, Modernist office building for $1 under a National Park Service program and develop the property through a partnership with Boston-based developer Redgate and local developer The Kane Co.  

But the project became a political hot potato, triggering a lawsuit from the Redgate/Kane joint venture and causing two successive mayors and city councils to be voted out of office. The eventual consensus design, called the “community plan” featured a market hall and a much lower level of density than Redgate/Kane’s initial proposal. 

The Herald reports local officials appear cool on attempting to take part in the sale, whose date had not yet been announced at time of publication.