The city of Davenport is seeking requests for proposals for business development that would complete the Davenport Sports Complex & Business Park northwest of the city center, says Steven Goemmel, Davenport’s city administrator.

Davenport, which is the Lincoln County seat and is located about 35 miles east of Spokane via U.S. 2, hopes to sell five of six vacant city-block-sized lots identified as the business park, if it determines such sales ultimately will contribute to the city’s tax base, Goemmel says.

The city-owned lots each are roughly 1.7 acres in size. Each lot fronts state Route 25 and also is bordered by the sports complex.

The Davenport City Council is looking for proposals that would foster retail growth and generate property and sales tax revenue for the city, Goemmel says.

Proposals are due July 19.

Goemmel says most of Davenport’s business activity is confined to the downtown corridor, which is along U.S. 2, east of the state Route 25 junction. Davenport’s downtown corridor currently has only one commercial vacancy, he says.

The concept for the business park always has been tied to the sports complex, which was developed in 2011 and 2012, he says.

“Once we started laying out the sports complex, we realized we needed extra space on (state Route 25) for room to grow, and we purposefully set aside six city-block-sized lots,” he says. Davenport plans to retain the southernmost of the six parcels for city use.

“We would like to get an idea of what to do with the property,” Goemmel says of the request for proposals. “If we can get development going immediately, all the better.”

The Davenport Sports Complex includes a Little League field, a larger baseball field, a softball field, a basketball court, and a disc golf course.

The roughly $2 million sports complex was recognized last year with a small-town success award from the Association of Washington Cities.