The Lockport City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday night to approve the purchase of the former Dellwood Tire property on State Street for future development.

The property, located at 701-711 S. State St. at the north end of the downtown area, is vacant and includes the old tire building and a large parking lot.

“Lockport has been a leader in the redevelopment of the downtown for many years and this is another step in that same direction,” said City Administrator Ben Benson, who noted that the city has purchased and redeveloped the property that is now Embers restaurant at 933 S. State Street, and the recently redeveloped mixed-use property at 923 S. State St.

The approved plan is for the city to purchase the 33,668-square-foot property for $550,000 and demolish the existing buildings before negotiating a redevelopment agreement for the land.

Although specifics for the redevelopment were not discussed at the meeting, Benson told the Herald-News that the plan is to follow a model similar to the 923 State St. development with FORE Investments and create a mixed-use building with commercial space on the lower level and residential space on the upper floors.

In the board documents city staff noted that the property is part of an existing tax increment financing district, and the purchase would allow the city more control over what sort of development would go into the space.