Ottawa buying downtown buildings to prevent them from becoming a parking lot

While sometimes its hard finding a parking spot in downtown Ottawa, the city council is trying to prevent a property owner from creating more parking.

The city put on file Tuesday night an agreement to buy buildings at 218 and 220 West Main Street for $36,500, or roughly half the appraised value. The property owner wanted to tear down the buildings and make a parking lot. Ottawa Mayor Bob Eschbach says though there’s enough interest in the downtown that the buildings can be redeveloped and kept on the city’s tax rolls.

Once the city buys the two buildings, Eschbach thinks they’ll pump in about $25,000 to fix facades and then hopefully turn it over to a developer. Coins and Currency is in one of the buildings while the other is vacant.