Corp officials say they are finalizing a formal bid to open a bar and restaurant in the vacant space in Darnall Hall, a move that could reshape the ongoing negotiations to determine the fate of that space.

Corp CEO John Carpenter (MSB ’06) said the bid, which has been in the works since last week, will “quite likely” be submitted to university officials by the end of October, after the Corp has obtained details regarding the floor plan of the space from GUSA and the university.

The current proposal, as outlined by members of the Corp’s Board of Directors, recommends a venue that would serve as an on-campus eatery during the day and a late-night sports bar and grill during the evening.

“The drive for a bar [and] restaurant on campus is nothing new, but we believe the Corp is in a unique position . to engineer a space to which students will be drawn,” Carpenter said.

The announcement of the new bid accompanied criticism by Corp officials of the student association’s search for a new Darnall vendor.

Corp Chief Financial Officer Chirag Dedania (SFS ’06) said that Corp officials would have put a bid together sooner had they been contacted by GUSA or administration officials when the Darnall Cafeteria closed in May.

“There was no interest from GUSA in having the Corp in that space,” Dedania said.

However, after the Corp indicated an interest in the space last month, GUSA President Pravin Rajan (SFS ’07) asked the Corp officials to submit a bid, and Corp officials began discussing the idea in earnest, Dedania said.

He added that members of the Corp Board of Directors have since spoken to several administration officials, including Dan Porterfield, vice president for public affairs and strategic development, regarding the student business’ plans for the space.

Dedania met yesterday with Eamonn Carr (COL ’06), GUSA’s secretary for housing and facilities and the student official most closely involved in bidding negotiations, to discuss the Corp’s proposal. He said that Carr indicated during the meeting that GUSA and the administration preferred to proceed with the bids that were already in place.

“I got the impression they didn’t want us to make a bid,” Dedania said.

Carr has repeatedly defended the bidding process. He said that all vendors currently under consideration submitted their bids without being approached.

“Equal access to information was provided for every entrepreneur across America,” he said. “The Corp actually had somewhat of an advantage already being on campus with an existing infrastructure.”

Both Rajan and Carr said that they have worked against bids from vendors who would compete with Corp-operated establishments, including coffee shops and markets.

“We’ve been doing everything within our power to help the Corp,” Rajan said.

Carr denied that he had tried to dissuade the Corp from submitting a bid during yesterday’s meeting, saying that no actual bid from the Corp is in place.

“I feel that the past Corp-friendly actions [that] Pravin and I have personally performed have not been appreciated,” Carr said. “I do not know how someone can claim that GUSA is . preventing the Corp from submitting a bid when the Corp has not even developed one.”

He also said that GUSA is following the same procedure in the Darnall bidding process as it used when it was attracting vendors to the newly renovated Hoya Court.

Rajan said that he welcomes the Corp’s ideas for the space, as long as students will be allowed to use their meal plans at the restaurant and it will bring in as much revenue as competing bids.

Still, several Corp officials said that GUSA is only interested in attracting national brand-name vendors to occupy Darnall.

“We know, as students, that we can serve the Georgetown community better than a corporate-decided menu created for and by fat white guys in suits,” Corp Chief Operating Officer Adam Giblin (COL ’06) said. Giblin also sits on The Hoya’s Board of Directors.

GUSA officials have declined to name any vendors with pending bids, citing confidentiality requirements, but have acknowledged that several brand-name vendors, including a T.G.I. Friday’s, are under consideration.

Dedania dismissed concerns about the Corp’s ability to operate a restaurant, saying that the Corp has the money and staff to open a restaurant by the end of the next semester, GUSA’s preferred deadline. He said that the Corp will hire a restaurant consultant if it is selected.

“Ten years ago people believed that the Corp couldn’t open a coffee shop,” he said. “Now we have three. A restaurant is something we want to do. This is something we can do better than anyone else.”

Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services Margie Bryant, who is working closely in the bidding negotiations, was unavailable for comment.