The town of Dillon has purchased real estate in the town core for use as workforce housing and office space.

The Dillon Town Council Tuesday, Feb. 11, unanimously approved $1.2 million for the purchase of two housing units at 105 Village Place. Voting later in Tuesday evening as the Dillon Urban Renewal Authority, the members also unanimously approved $1.3 million for the purchase of five commercial units in the same building.

The two housing units are located on the top floor of the building and “have already been condominium-ized,” Town Manager Nathan Johnson wrote in a staff memo. The town plans to rent, or deed restrict and sell, the housing units to town staff or workers in Dillon or the county, Johnson said.

“What we intend to do here is use these as workforce housing units,” Johnson said. “We have interest from at least one staff member to fill these units.”

The commercial spaces are located on the street level of the building and fit the town’s needs for additional office space and storage space, Johnson wrote in another memo. He said the town will use the entire basement storage area and move staff into the offices.

“We are busting at the seams here at the town hall site. We’ve also been notified that the current events staff site is under contract with potentially a new owner,” Johnson said. “So we want to move some of our administrative staff into this building.”

The funds approved Tuesday for the workforce housing units come from the town’s Housing 5a Fund, while the funds approved for the commercial spaces come from the Dillon Urban Renewal Authority Fund, Johnson said. Town staff toured the Village Place properties twice before moving forward with the purchase, he said.

Noting that the town owns three lots, including parking adjacent to 105 Village Place, Johnson said, “This rounds out the assemblage of properties … for approximately half of a town-owned block.” He said that the property could have redevelopment potential down the line.