The Dixon City Council voted Monday to accept a donation of a vacant residential property that officials hope to demolish with state grant funds and open for redevelopment as housing.

The city previously demolished and opened for redevelopment five Dixon properties through a partnership with Lee County using a $154,000 grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority. Now, the city is applying for that same grant in hopes of funding the demolition of the donated property at 117 E. Fourth St. and is identifying others to include in the project.

The city doesn’t “have a lot of abandoned properties,” but does “have a lot of vacant properties,” Dixon Public Works Director Tim Shipman told Shaw Local.

Shipman said they’re looking at some of those, but the city doesn’t currently own them.

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, Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss previously told Shaw Local.

The 2026 deadline for its grant application to be submitted is June 16, Shipman said.

“We feel confident that we’ll be able to” secure funding, Shipman said, adding that he believes showing that the city successfully used the funding last year will earn them some bonus points.

Dixon, like many other Illinois communities, is dealing with a “lack of housing,” Shipman said.

“If we can get these houses torn down” and a developer to get new ones up, “it’s certainly a win for everybody,” Shipman said.

In 2025, the city was allotted $75,000 of the IHDA grant secured by Lee County and demolished five Dixon properties at 513, 517 and 523 W. First St.; 807 W. Second St.; and 502 W. Seventh St.

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 known as Petunia Crossing. City officials envision that area to be a riverfront expansion with a mix of residential space, such as condos, along with retail stores and restaurants.