LAWRENCE — One Mill Street, a historic brick building in the heart of the city's Mill District, is for sale — again.

The beleaguered eatery, established by automobile magnate Charlie Daher in 2000, has been through rough waters over the last few years, culminating in a foreclosure auction in May.

The owners of the Roma of Haverhill, an Italian cuisine emporium, purchased the distressed property for $690,000 and put nearly $200,000 more into it.

Only problem? No parking.

"It will never work for us," said Steve Haginicolas, who owns the Roma Restaurant at 29 Middlesex St., Haverhill. He said he might get away with opening the first floor as a restaurant, but that he'd never be able to use the second and third floors, a bar and function hall, respectively.

As a result, he and his brother George have put the property on the market for $1.2 million, hoping to recoup their investment and perhaps make a small profit.

"It's got a beautiful function hall on the third floor," he said, as well as a second floor that was used by Daher and his family as a nightclub and cigar bar. The first floor has a bar and traditional sit-down restaurant.

He said if the property doesn't sell over the winter, he'll open the first floor as a restaurant and mothball the upper two floors.

But even that could be a stretch, as parking remains limited. There are 8 to 10 on-site parking spaces along one side of the building.

"I thought I'd be able to work out better arrangements," he said, adding that since he purchased the building, he goes to the site three or four times a week to work on it, and has found that even the on-site parking spaces are filled by cars from neighboring businesses.

"I have to park illegally on the street in front of the building," he said.

He said he worked with the city, meeting with planner Michael Sweeney, as well as the owners of neighboring properties to try to figure out a valet parking arrangement.

But his efforts have been for naught.

"The city was very helpful, but their suggestions for parking two, three or four blocks away?" he said. "How do you get customers to walk two to three blocks to go to a restaurant?"

Sweeney could not be reached for comment.

Haginicolas said one nearby mill owner offered to lease him parking, but that it would only be available after 5 p.m.

"We have to be open 10 to 11 hours a day just to pay the bills," he said. "There's lots of parking in the area, but it is all owned by other people."

Daher, who bought the property in 2000 and spent $1.5 million renovating it into a high-end restaurant and function hall, said he overcame the parking problem by leasing property across the street that is now occupied by the new immigration center.

The immigration center has very little of its own parking, with underground spaces for employees, but little to no parking for the general public doing business at the center. The result is that the limited number of parking spaces in that neighborhood are filled with cars all day long.

Realtor Mary-Beth Lambrou, the listing agent for the property with Lori Jordan Realty, said parking isn't an issue.

"You can walk," she said. "You park, get out and walk down the street. I think it's a non-issue."

She said the property is in great condition, is priced aggressively and is a "turnkey operation" with all the equipment needed to open a bar, restaurant and function center.

"There is nothing you have to do," she said, adding that there's already been a "flurry of activity," including showings and walk-throughs, since it was listed about a month ago.

Steve Haginicolas said that in addition to buying the building for $690,000, he purchased much of the equipment inside the building during a separate auction for another $135,000.

He's spent a lot of time and money — about $30,000 — cleaning up the interior of the building, fixing the elevator, repairing the roof and maintaining the fire alarm system.

"If we sell it, fine," he said. "If not, we'll open up in the spring."

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