By By JAN GRIFFEY / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- The Niles City Council will meet as a committee of the whole on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to discuss an offer it has received for the purchase of the property at the corner of Fifth and Main streets.
The meeting will be held in the basement conference room of the city's utilities department, 322 E. Main St.
Leader Publications LLC, which owns and operates this newspaper, has made an offer to purchase the property, formerly the location of Gary's Standard Service Station.
Doug Phares, president of Leader Publications and publisher of the Niles Daily Star, said Leader Publications is committed to downtown Niles and the property fits well into its plans for the future.
He said he expects to negotiate a mutually-agreed-upon purchase price for the property with members of the city council.
The City Council purchased the property several years ago and demolished the service station building located on it and oversaw removal of the underground fuel storage tanks as well as the environmental clean-up of the property.
In addition to the Niles Daily Star, Leader Publications publishes The Leader, the Dowagiac Daily News, Edwardsburg Argus, the Cassopolis Vigilant, and operates a major web-printing facility.
Leader Publications is also the largest employer located in downtown Niles.