SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — The Social Circle City Council purchased a property Thursday night as part of a continued push to revitalize the city’s downtown corridor.

The council held a special called meeting Thursday evening just before its regularly scheduled work session to discuss a real estate matter, ending the meeting with a unanimous vote to buy the property at 120 S. Cherokee Road, which previously housed Bob Miller Insurance. City manager Eric Taylor noted it was the third such purchase the city had made in a short period of time.

“This is now the third building which we have purchase in the last month and a half,” Taylor said. “The city is going to go in and completely gut these buildings, whatever we have to do prepare for future tenants.”

The city had previously purchased the storefront properties at 136 S. Cherokee Road and 124 S. Cherokee Road, the latter of which is right next to the newest purchase. These two earlier properties had been vacant for years, with no tenants since 2009 for one and 2012 for the other. Taylor said the city would renovate and replace wiring, fixtures and other basic requirements within the structures before turning them over to the city’s downtown development authority to market to businesses.

“We don’t have anybody on the hook right now,” Taylor said. “The DDA will seek tenants to bring new businesses to downtown in spaces that have been empty for far too long.”

Taylor added the purchases were a necessary investment to make downtown Social Circle grow and thrive once more.

“This should serve as a catalyst for downtown revival,” Taylor said