KITTERY – The Navy hopes to begin negotiations by this fall with a private developer on overhauling and reusing the former Portsmouth Naval Shipyard prison.

Navy officials are asking developers to submit their technical proposals and concepts in May and June, and a team will evaluate the proposals with a goal of singling out one developer for negotiations by late summer. If all goes well, the Navy hopes to have a contract signed in spring 2009.

The Navy tried once before to redevelop the prison and signed a lease with New Hampshire developer Joseph Sawtelle to turn it into premium office space. But that project fell through when Sawtelle died in 2000.