The Dixon City Council approved an agreement with an Illinois contractor Tuesday, Sept. 2, to complete the demolition of five city-owned properties that officials plan to redevelop.

The demolition and restoration of the five Dixon lots at 513, 517 and 523 on West First St.; 807 W. Second St.; and 502 W. Seventh St. are part of the city’s partnership with the Lee County-led project using a $154,000 grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority. The city was allotted $75,000 of the grant.

The work in Dixon will be completed by Anthem Excavation and Demolition Inc., based in Itasca, for a cost of $79,000. The remaining $4,000 not covered by the grant will be paid from the city’s general fund, according to city documents.

The work will begin after each property is cleared of asbestos, which is a project the city will complete, Dixon building official Tim Shipman said Tuesday.

The IHDA Strong Communities Program provides funds to local governments to purchase, rehabilitate and/or demolish abandoned residential properties. In Dixon, officials intend the grant project to be one small part of the city’s overall effort to increase available housing, which is one of the area’s “greatest needs,” Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss said.

The three lots on West First Street are located within a development area city officials refer to as Viaduct Point along the riverbank between the Peoria Avenue bridge and the pedestrian bridge currently under construction.

Langloss said the city envisions that area to be a “riverfront expansion” with a mix of residential space, like condos, along with retail stores and restaurants.

That area has convenient access to the multiuse pathways that run east and west along the Rock River, as well as the new pedestrian bridge once it’s completed, which makes those lots “a desirable location for this type of development,” Langloss said.

The pedestrian bridge is a $12 million development known as Project Rock that will extend from the west multiuse path over the river using the old Illinois Central Railroad piers.

For the other two lots on West Second and West Seventh streets, Langloss said, the city plans on putting out a request for housing developers.

The city also plans to do the same for other city-owned lots like this that aren’t included in the grant project, which officials hope will help to revitalize the neighborhoods, Langloss said.

Shipman estimated the city owns four such lots.

To speed that process along, city leaders are working to put together a program where if a developer comes in with a plan stating the type of home they want to build, how much they’ll sell or rent it for and a timeline for the project, the city could give them something in exchange, such as giving the lot away for free or waiving building permit fees, Langloss said.