LOVELAND – Loveland City Council agreed to purchase the Agilent Technologies Inc. property at its meeting May 10, a big step toward the city’s bid for the Aerospace Clean Energy Manufacturing and Innovation Center.

The vote appropriated $5.8 million to fund the purchase price of the property, and came after a three-hour closed-door meeting between the councilors and lawyers.

Purchase of the property at 900 S. Taft Ave. in Loveland, will close on June 23.

Mayor Cecil Gutierrez stated the importance of due diligence on the part of the council to make sure they covered every detail of the complex issue.

The funds for the purchase will come from five different sources, but the largest contributor will be the city’s raw water fund, which will make a $4.5 million loan, to be repaid when the city sells the property to developers of the ACE project.

Loveland city officials hope to finalize the deal between the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology, which will seal the deal for the development on the ACE park, by the end of June.

Bringing the ACE park to Loveland could attract as many as 100 companies to the area to work on projects in collaboration with the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, which is partnering with CAMT on the ACE project.