GREENFIELD — For the first time since the quasi-public Greenfield Redevelopment Authority acquired the First National Bank building on Bank Row in 2017, two potential buyers have shown interest in redeveloping the property.

Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane announced Thursday during a virtual Redevelopment Authority meeting that two architecture companies are separately eyeing the building after roughly four decades of dormancy. She said one of the firms had seen the site previously, and the other toured the building last week.

“They both have pretty well-formed ideas for the space, but are, in one case, putting together some prospective funding partners, and in the other case, now that they’ve seen the space, are just looking through the logistics of what that might look like and making sure it fits with a realistic plan,” Cahillane said.

Cahillane said one architecture firm plans to transform the property into a food court, and the other is considering a second-floor recording studio for music or podcasts, with a first-floor, cafe-type food establishment that can accommodate small or “informal” live performance acts. She said the building does not have the “load-in access” necessary to accommodate a full band.

“Both sounded interesting to me. Both parties are aware of the limitations of access that the building presents, and both seem to have ways of making it work for their ideas,” Cahillane said. “Both [options] felt at least loosely feasible to me and in keeping with things that would do great in downtown Greenfield.”

The building, which last operated as a bank in 1976, consists of 6,600 square feet on both the ground floor and basement levels, along with a 670-square-foot mezzanine. It still features several elements of its earlier days, including a circular check-writing kiosk, doors to the bank safe and a corner-office fireplace. The nonprofit Franklin County Community Development Corporation owned the building for approximately 15 years prior to the Redevelopment Authority’s acquisition of it in 2017.

With the building remaining vacant for such a long period of time and a dearth of bids for redevelopment, Cahillane said the Redevelopment Authority had been discussing its potential demolition with Mayor Ginny Desorgher.

“We’ve tried a lot of [requests for proposals] and it sat vacant for a while,” Cahillane said. “We thought at least heading down the road of demolition in terms of what steps would be necessary was an appropriate next step because the building’s been vacant for a long time and it’s not doing anybody any good just sitting there.”

Cahillane said that since the city is not pressed for time to redevelop the lot, there is no set timeline at the moment for either of the interested firms. She said she expects there to be future discussions on whether the building will be purchased or leased.

Redevelopment Authority member Otis Wheeler shared his opinion that an urban food court, in particular, would likely make for a successful downtown business.

“I’ve seen the food court model work in Boston and in smaller cities,” Wheeler said. “I went to a really nice one down in Raleigh, North Carolina, so I like the fact that it could be doable and I’m excited to hear more.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.