The historic Missoula Mercantile is up for sale, with its owner asking $4.5 million for the downtown Missoula icon.

Octagon Partners purchased the building for $2.3 million in 2011 and has since spent roughly $1.2 million on demolition, abatement and improvement, said J.P. Williamson, a founding partner of Octagon.

The Virginia-based development firm specializes in redevelopment of historic buildings and envisions the former Macy’s as mixed space, with retail, restaurant, office and nonprofit tenants.

Interest from retailers who would serve as anchor tenants for the 80,000-gross-square-foot space has been strong, said Jed Dennison, owner and broker of Zillastate Realty, which is handling leasing at the building.

Abatement for asbestos and lead is already finished and the building has been restored to its load-bearing original walls, Dennison said.

Although Williamson didn’t divulge details, he said that two companies have expressed interest in purchasing the building.

An office tenant to occupy the bulk of the second floor remains elusive, though.

A buyer who would house its business in the building would be a win-win for the project, he added.

Putting the building on the market enables Octagon to solicit interest from others, in addition to the two other entities, Williamson said.

The Merc is not the first project Octagon has done outside of Virginia, as the pool of historic buildings available for redevelopment is limited. Currently, the company is working on a project in North Carolina, Williamson said. “It just proves to be more difficult to make it work so far away.”

However, when the building sells, Octagon would love to remain involved in the development process, he said.

Williamson said his preference would be to find an office tenant and for Octagon to continue development without selling. “We’re willing to not sell it if we’re able to identify an office tenant.”

For more information, go to www.themercmsla.com.