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A downtown commercial property could be redeveloped into a hotel, but its new owner says that is unlikely.

An early assistance intake filed with the city of Portland last week proposes redeveloping Washington Center, at 419 S.W. Washington St., into a Cambria Suites hotel. True Adams Co., a Bend-based project planning and predevelopment consulting firm, submitted the proposal on behalf of Rockville, Md.-based Choice Hotels International.

For Washington Center to become a hotel, the property’s owner, Portland-based Menashe Properties, would have to be willing to sell it.

“The odds of it happening are 10 to 20 percent,” Menashe Properties co-owner Jordan Menashe said. “It would not be a joint venture. We have no plans to sell Washington Center at this point.”

Menashe Properties last month purchased Washington Center for $9 million from the property’s tenant-in-common ownership group. Meridian Trust Real Estate Services in February began listing the 77,411-square-foot, two-building property for at least $9.5 million after anchor tenant Everest College announced plans to move out.

The sale of Washington Center to Menashe Properties went smoothly because the company could meet a tight closing deadline set by the sellers, said Richard Freimark, Meridian Trust’s principal broker and president. Menashe Properties was willing to buy the buildings as is, despite aging mechanical systems and other maintenance issues, he said.

Menashe said his company is investigating ways to redevelop the Washington Center property, possibly to suit a grocer.

“We’d love a large retailer,” he said. “That would be our first choice.”