The St. James Hotel has been back on the market after a deal to sell it fell through in August, but it could have a new owner soon.

Selma City Council President Corey Bowie said the city has several potential buyers that are interested in the historic property.

“We have had two companies to tour the hotel and in January, we have two additional companies that will be coming in to tour the hotel,” Bowie said. “We have a strong potential buyer for one of the two in January. They have had a lot of inquiries about it.”

The hotel, which was appraised for $900,000, is listed by Hotel Assets Group, a company that specializes in selling hotels, for $1,100,000.

The hotel was relisted by the city after a deal to sell it to Kenneth Moore and Janee Hotel Corporation for $100,000 and a promise of $4.5 million in renovations fell apart.

Bowie said one of the companies that is interested in buying the hotel specializes in development and the others have a background in hospitality. Bowie said the council is more aware this time around and they will do their due diligence before making a decision on who to sell the hotel to.

“We are going to make sure that we cross every T and dot every I. In any business deal, they often say the devil is in the details,” Bowie said. “And as a collective whole as a council we are more conscientious and cognitive that we need to make sure to do our due diligence and don’t be in so much of a hurry to get it off our hands.”

The city has operated the hotel without a management company since March 2015. The hotel was originally staffed by nearly 30 people, but the city has since cut back.

“It’s open on a semi-basis,” Bowie said. “We have mothballed some of the hotel. We have reduced some of the activities. The bar is only open on Friday nights, and we’re half-staff just to keep it open.”

Bowie said he and now former councilman Greg Bjelke recently gave a tour to one of the prospective buyers.

“It was intriguing. They asked a lot of questions. We talked about a lot of possibilities, but we haven’t heard back from them,” Bowie said.

“But the one that is supposed to be coming in January, there’s been a lot of inquiries about the St. James and Selma. Hopefully we can finalize the deal. But in the meantime, we’re not just putting all our eggs in one basket.”

Bowie said the council as a whole feels pretty good about where the city is at with selling the hotel.

“We’re feeling good about it, but if this doesn’t materialize we’ve got a backup plan,” Bowie said. “I don’t foresee the city being in the hotel business for much longer.”

Bowie did not go into detail on the city’s backup plan, but he said expects the city to have the hotel sold by spring or mid-summer at the latest.