Albert Lea officials will get a good hold on whether their plan for the Lea Center building will sink or swim in two weeks.

On June 23, officials will meet with state officials from housing, economic development and other departments as well as Metro Plains, the developer for the project.

&uot;They are going to talk about whether or not it continues to be be viable project,&uot; City Planner Bob Graham said.

The city bought Lea Center in July 2002 for $350,000, then made an agreement to sell the building to Metro Plains for $1,000. But the sale of the building to the developer is contingent on getting grants from the state for redevelopment of the area.

With the state’s financial situation, the grant applications will be even more competitive than usual.

&uot;It’s a positive sign that they are interested in the project,&uot; City Manager Paul Sparks said.

&uot;But it’s going to be a very competitive process,&uot; he added.

Part of the process for the city is getting everything to align correctly. First, they must get the national park service to certify that the building can be part of the city’s historical district.

&uot;Right now we have a consultant working on that process,&uot; Graham said. &uot;I know they are getting closer to the end, but I’m not sure how much longer it will take.&uot;

They, then need to apply for historic-district tax credits and low-income housing tax credits.

&uot;There are a lot of elements in the process,&uot; Graham said.

The Department of Trade and Economic Development grant they are waiting to hear about is for $600,000, but there would also be extra money included for doing exterior improvements like re-paving and landscaping, according to Sparks.

Sparks said the fact that the city’s last state grant, for the Pickerel Park townhouses, was three years ago will be helpful.

&uot;They usually are given out in a cycle, so they are spread evenly,&uot; Sparks said. Three years is a fair amount of time between grants, he added.

Graham said that the meeting should provide a good idea of what the state thinks about the proposal.

&uot;Part of the meeting would be to determine, what, if anything, can be done to improve the quality of the applications,&uot; Graham said. &uot;Were we not chosen to receive the grant because the timing of the other elements. We need to find out about those things so we can work on them.&uot; The city did not get the grant in its first application.

When the city will get word on the grant is still unknown, but is expected soon.

If all things go as planned, the dilapidated and largely vacant Lea Center, one of downtown’s largest buildings, would be developed by Metro Plains into a 37-unit apartment building with some commercial space. But that endpoint is still years away.