Photo by Brent Warren.

The Columbus Partnership plans to buy a prominent downtown building that has been vacant since 2006.

The building, at 145 S. Front St., was once the home of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. As WOSU recently reported, several attempts to renovate the building ran into political and economic headwinds and were abandoned before the state eventually initiated a process to sell the property.

The Columbus Partnership’s Irene Alvarez confirmed that the organization – which counts over 70 area CEOs as members – has signed an agreement to to purchase the property for $3 million.

“Closing on the property is contingent upon a satisfactory outcome of due diligence, a process we are undertaking now,” she said, declining to outline any specific plans.

“It’s a great site in a great city,” Alvarez said of the six-story building, which sits directly across the street from the Partnership’s offices in the Lazarus Building. “We have long desired to see the property put to use in an active area of downtown…we’re currently exploring what the options could be.”