Wheeling City Council is set to take another step forward regarding the redevelopment of vacant properties it owns on the 1100 block of Main Street.

At its meeting Tuesday, council heard the first reading of an ordinance allowing the city to spend $350,000 to improve the properties and create a development agreement to assist the project.

City officials said the development will fulfill a promise the previous council made to The Health Plan, located across the street.

“I think it is important that the city keep its promises,” Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said.

Wheeling is currently working with developers, part of an organization named Main Street Ventures, who are interested in redeveloping city-owned properties at 1107 and 1109 Main St. In February, council transferred the properties to the Ohio Valley Area Development Corporation, allowing the project to move forward.

The developers’ plans, outlined at a city Development Committee meeting in December, include performing major structural repairs on the buildings and renovations to allow for retail and apartment use.

The ordinance will allow the developers of the two properties and an insurance agency located at 1111 Main St. to come up with a development plan, according to City Manager Robert Herron. The plan would involve adding a combined egress system among the buildings, which would allow the second and third floors of 1111 Main St. to be utilized.

The $350,000 would go toward incentive packages for the properties’ owners and come from the city’s current operating budget, Elliott said. The city set aside $300,000 last year for the properties through cash carryover allocations, he said.

That extra $50,000 is “something we can handle,” Herron added.

“We have known for several years now that these buildings are sufficiently difficult and that there will be no private sector investment without city assistance,” Elliott said.

In March 2016, the previous City Council, led by former Mayor Andy McKenzie, paid about $200,000 to purchase 1107 and 1109 Main St. in conjunction with the construction of The Health Plan. Later that year, the new council halted plans to demolish the buildings and considered redeveloping them.

“Part of the deal when we came downtown was for the two buildings to be redeveloped in some fashion,” said Jim Pennington, CEO and President of the Health Plan. “I’m happy to see that they’ve found someone to make an investment in restoring buildings and hopefully getting them into a position where they can be economically feasible and viable to the downtown area.”

Elliott said the city’s money will go toward converting the properties to “active use.” Both buildings have problems with their roofs, secondary egress options and water encroachment in their basements.

“In exchange for redevelopment commitments from each new property owner, City Council will be considering a package of incentives that will commit funds that can be used to address those three deficiencies,” Elliott said. “For me, what’s critical is that we have a commitment to activate space that otherwise will likely remain empty.”

Vice Mayor Chad Thalman said he believes the developers hope to start construction work in the next several months. He added that bringing the buildings back to active use and allowing them to pay taxes will be a better return on the city’s investment than tearing the structures down.

“We really have some momentum going with these three buildings, and I’m excited about potential and partners that we’re with to see these projects move forward,” Herron said.