There are at least three offers on the table for developing Canal Street property.

One of them belongs to local developer David Ulrich, whose proposal to build out the whole block for Niagara County Community College’s planned Culinary Institute remains vague and uncertain almost three months after he pitched it to Greater Lockport Development Corporation directors in secret.

Meanwhile, other parties that want a crack at one or more parcels on the block — including one who submitted a purchase offer, and a deposit, on 79 Canal St. over a month ago — seemingly are being held at bay by GLDC.

Ulrich met with the board of directors on June 3 to propose recruiting the Culinary Institute to Canal Street. The meeting was closed to the press and directors were obligated, by a confidentiality agreement they signed as a condition of Ulrich meeting with them, to not discuss the idea publicly for up to six months.

Sources said after that meeting the board gave Ulrich 60 days to submit a site plan, financials and other documents articulating a specific development plan. The deadline passed and the documents were not submitted. It appears NCCC wasn’t even formally approached by Ulrich until the deadline was drawing near.

Ulrich proposed Canal Street as Culinary Institute site in a July 23 letter to NCCC President James Klyczek. The letter referenced the college’s difficulties acquiring property in Niagara Falls, where the Institute has been planned, and touted superiority of Canal Street in terms of location, aesthetics, project cost savings and even parking. It solicited an invitation to discuss the idea with the NCCC Board of Trustees.

The school board did not discuss the letter until its Aug. 18 business meeting. School representatives were here Tuesday looking over the Canal Street properties, according to GLDC/City Attorney John Ottaviano, but it is not known today, as the GLDC board is meeting for monthly business, what their assessment is.

Klyczek did not respond to the US&J’s request for an interview about the Canal Street pitch Wednesday.

Ulrich also refused to comment on the proposal and his dealings with the school. He’ll hold “a press conference, within a couple of weeks,” he said.

The GLDC board is going to have to decide, soon, what it wants to do with the Canal Street properties, President/Mayor Michael Tucker acknowledged. Aside from Ulrich, two other bidders for single parcels are waiting for a response to their offers. He would not name them specifically but said their development proposals are “very solid” and their purchase offers are “serious.”

One serious party wants 57 Canal St., the largest building that contains a portion of the original Harrison Radiator plant, for a retail operation and a tourism-related side business. The party reportedly calls Tony D’Auria, GLDC’s real estate agent for Canal Street properties, on a weekly basis to inquire where its offer stands.

Another bidder, Tom Callahan, owner-operator of the Lockport Cave Tours and Underground Boat Ride, wants 79 Canal St. He declined to say Wednesday what his specific plans are for the building, but confirmed he made a purchase offer on it about 45 days ago.

“I haven’t been asked (by GLDC) to come to the table yet,” he said. “I think they’re waiting on David Ulrich.”

The wait is frustrating, Callahan suggested. He won’t begrudge Ulrich’s “proven track record” in successful real estate development, but isn’t afraid to mention his own record — the Cave Tour is one of Lockport’s premiere visitor attractions — or his own keen interest in Canal Street. It does overlook that premiere attraction.

“In the hopes David isn’t still in the mix, we’re ready to come in,” Callahan said. “If he doesn’t get an extension (from GLDC) we’ll be front-and-center going after it.”

Still another interested party has been talking with GLDC about opening a restaurant on the block, Tucker said.

GLDC discussion of how to proceed with Canal Street is expected today, although probably in closed session under guise of “negotiations.” D’Auria will be in to update the board on property inquiries, Tucker said.

The board will not offer Ulrich a formal extension of time to turn in a concrete development plan for the block, he predicted — but it won’t close the door on him just yet either.

“At this stage of the game, a Culinary Institute in Lockport could be a long shot, but it merits a good, hard look. With David’s track record, and the potential (the institute has to generate more downtown economic activity) I think we have to take it seriously,” Tucker said. “But, no, the others should not be made to wait much longer. This is the balance we’re trying to find. The other (bidders) seem to be very patient; they understand what’s going on.”

GLDC/City Attorney John Ottaviano said the board likely will seek meeting with NCCC officials as soon as possible to gauge the school’s interest in Canal Street.

“Is it 50/50 or better? This is what we need to know,” he said.

With the NCCC board’s open discussion of Ulrich’s proposal last week, the confidentiality agreement that GLDC directors signed is considered null and void, Ottaviano said.

The proposal is to locate the Culinary Institute in three standalone buildings along Canal Street and a school-staffed restaurant in Old City Hall on Pine Street near Canal. Ulrich’s letter to Klyczek also offered “construction of a new parking ramp for NCCC.” What he meant, according to Ottaviano, is city construction of a new parking garage at Pine and Main streets, to replace the city-owned garage that’s been closed since 2007.

The last plans drawn up for a new garage carried an estimated price tag of $8 million, inclusive of plans for a park incorporating the Erie Canal “overlook” behind the existing garage. Sticker shock kept the Common Council from acting on the plan last year.