Troy to buy downtown property with eye toward future parking needs

Caption – 107 N. Main Street in Troy as it appears in Google Earth’s Street View. Troy officials plan to buy the property from the owners, lease it back to them for six months to allow them to find a new home in town to buy, then raze the structure for a new parking lot. (Courtesy Google Earth Street View image)

By Charles Bolinger

Editor • Even though Rya covered it last year, I prefer Amy Grant’s 1994 cover of Joni Mitchell’s song, “Big Yellow Taxi,” with the famous lyric, ‘So they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.’

With a 8-0 vote at its first city council meeting of 2026, Troy councilmen passed an ordinance and two resolutions related to buying a downtown property for $240,000 that they hope will eventually become a new parking lot, even if what’s there now may not be everyone’s idea of paradise.

“The city had an ordinance on the agenda this evening to purchase 107 N. Main Street,” said City Administrator Jay Keeven. “We also have a resolution to lease the property for six months to the current owners. Our long-term plan is to create additional parking at that location.  

“The lease is to allow the current owner the time they will need to find another house; they want to remain in Troy,” he continued. “Leasing the property back to the owner does not slow progress as we will need to get bids on demolition and will require engineering to develop the best parking layout for the lot, which can all be accomplished within that six-month window. These costs will be budgeted for FY27, which begins May 1.”
Keeven told the mayor and council that he will amend the fiscal year 2025/2026 budget to transfer $540,000 to the Downtown Tax-Increment Finance (TIF) fund from the city’s general revenue (capital improvement) fund to be utilized for the purchase of real estate in downtown Troy. 

“That way, when we get revenue back into the downtown TIF, we can pay the general revenue fund back,” Keeven concluded.

With the popularity of Palenque Mexican Grill and now two more potential restaurants coming to the city across from 107 N. Main St., in the former American Legion building, nearby street parking is already at a premium, so city officials are trying to be proactive in adding more.

Such a lot may also assist with parking for the Troy, Maryville, St. Jacob and Marine Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday celebrations in late 2026 and beyond.