Island County commissioners are in the market for properties in both Coupeville and Oak Harbor.

During a workshop meeting last week, county Facilities Director Ryan Beach recommended that the county purchase a $900,000 building at 80 N. Main St. in Coupeville and a $1 million building on 380 SE Pioneer Way in Oak Harbor. The buildings had recently been placed on the market by private owners.

County officials had been discussing expanding the county campus for years in order to accommodate staff but decided that it would be more cost effective to buy existing buildings rather than building something new, especially in the current construction environment.

According to county documents, the building in Coupeville is across from the hospital, is owned by the Cline Trust, was built in 1980 and has traditionally been used as a medical office. It is about 5,700 square feet and has an assessed value of about $1.1 million.

The building would be used for public works. Beach estimated that the county would need to spend about $400,000 to prepare the building for the staff.

The Oak Harbor building was built in 1960 and once housed Interwest Bank. Currently, Sylvan Learning and Waldron Construction rent space in the building. It is two stories, 8,000 square feet and has 23 parking spaces. The assessed value is about $990,000.

It would cost the county an estimated $580,000 to install IT services, an elevator and other improvements, according to the county.

The building would be used to provide such county services as planning permits and housing assistance.

Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson’s husband, Alexander Pfeiffer, is the listing agent on the Oak Harbor property. He will not make his commission, however, if the county purchases the property because of laws governing conflicts of interesting, according to Johnson.