Hubbell Realty Co. continues to explore a number of options for its West End Lofts project, which now include selling the property.

“A few months ago, we decided to go ahead and put a price on it,” said Rick Tollakson, Hubbell’s president and CEO. “If somebody wants to buy it, that’s fine.”

Hubbell purchased the former Mitchell Transmission building at 1440 Locust St. in October 2005, with plans to develop about 30 condominium units on the second and third floors. In May, the company began marketing two approximately 1,700-square-foot bays on the first floor to potential retail and office users.

But the credit crunch and a tough housing market caused Hubbell to reconsider its plans, and in August it listed the 67,600-square-foot property for sale with an asking price of $2.7 million.

“The condo market is real, real tough,” Tollakson said, adding that though Hubbell’s home sales are “relatively steady,” finding a lender to finance a new downtown condo project “is not going to happen” right now.

Instead, if the property is not sold, the company will put that portion of the proposed project on hold for a couple of years while it waits for the financial and housing markets to recover.

Nestled in the heart of Gateway West Park, the Mitchell Transmission building is located within a few blocks of Meredith Corp.’s headquarters, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.’s recently completed expansion and Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s nearly finished corporate campus. With those developments, and the opening of the Des Moines Social Club and the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Garden, Tollakson thinks there will soon be more demand for housing and office space in the neighborhood.

“Right now, in the development world, we need time,” he said. “The opportunity for the building is going to look a lot stronger there.”