If you happened to be in the new, temporary parking lot on 1^st Street on Tuesday afternoon and wondered about the bus parked at its north end, it was part of a new tack in the city’s economic development efforts.

Touted as the Broker Tour, members of the St. Charles Economic Development Department staff accompanied brokers on a ride around town to see 23 commercial properties that have office and other space available. The two-hour tour, which started at 3 p.m., included stops at nine of the properties where brokers could take a five-minute mini-tour of the site.

St. Charles Economic Development Director Christopher Aiston said the intent is to showcase some of the property opportunities available in St. Charles. Inviting brokers to take a look, he said, will help ensure that St. Charles properties have a higher profile as small businesses and larger companies look to move into the area.

“We’ll be driving by 23 commercial and office properties,” Aiston said, “and we’ll actually be stopping at nine for short mini-tours.”

Karla McCleary, the city’s economic development senior administrative assistant, said the Broker Tour as a new endeavor by the department. She said other communities have done similar tours, “and we though we should try it, too.”

Earlier Tuesday afternoon, McCleary said by email that the department collaborated with Ann Dvorak and Sharon O’Leary from Murray Properties to set up the tour, which was attended by commercial broker representatives from throughout the Chicago area, but with emphasis on those with offices in the Tri-Cities area.

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