SAN JOSE — A new proposal for medical offices could save Burbank Theater and bring a fresh set of missions to the long-shuttered historic movie house that has become a site of blight.

According to plans on file at San Jose City Hall, the old cinema palace that closed its doors six years ago could undergo a significant revamp that would preserve its exterior as well as much of its interior.

The plans emerged after a group linked to business executives in Milpitas paid $1.6 million in January for the property at 560 South Bascom Ave. in San Jose. The Milpitas-based owner of the Burbank Theater site lists Fred Meyer and Hung Tran as principal executives.

For decades, the theater showed movies, but most recently it was operated as a dance studio. It closed in 2019. The Preservation Action Council of San Jose said the building is an “art moderne classic” that dates back to a bygone era of cinemas.

TJR Development has proposed a redevelopment with several components.

“This project involves the renovation and restoration of the existing theater and adjoining retail spaces,” TJR Development states in the proposal the company filed with the city.

Among the project’s key components:

Medical outpatient offices, a cafeteria and seating areas would operate inside the building. This would be accomplished by constructing a new second floor inside the structure.

The existing ground-floor retail spaces would be remodeled on the sides of the building that face South Bascom Avenue and Basile Avenue.

The existing theater lobby would be converted into a community activity center.

14 parking spaces would be created to serve future tenants and customers.

An outdoor seating area would be created.

The medical offices might benefit from the proximity of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, about three blocks away on South Bascom Avenue.

If a redevelopment of the theater occurs, that outcome could be a welcome counterpoint to the recent travails that have beset the property, which includes a lawsuit and foreclosure.

In 2005, the property received a loan from a unit of Lehman Brothers Bank, the defunct Wall Street investment firm that collapsed in 2008 at the height of the subprime mortgage crisis.

U.S. Bank took over administration of the loan, and in 2019, it foreclosed on that loan due to its delinquency.