Vacant for several years, the Niles-owned downtown building referred to as “the Gallery building” now has a new occupant.

On Monday, the Niles City Council agreed to give the 127 E. Main St. property to a Niles-based company called UltraCamp that provides online registration and camp management software for the camping industry.

In exchange, UltraCamp will give the city eight parcels of land it owns near Plym Park behind the Niles-Buchanan YMCA.

Daniel Ashley, who owns UltraCamp, put his hands together and mouthed the words “thank you” after the council unanimously voted to approve the property swap after a closed session in which they discussed the transaction Monday evening.

“All of my experiences working with the city council and staff at city hall has been exemplary,” he said. “They all worked really, really hard and bent over backwards to try to accommodate a small business. I just don’t have enough good things to say about their efforts on our behalf.”

UltraCamp purchased nearly two acres of land by Plym Park about three years ago with the intention of constructing upon it a new $1.2 million office building.

However, Ashley said they could not get enough financing to make the new construction project happen.

In the meantime, UltraCamp has been operating out of space rented from the city downtown.

A few months ago, Ashley said the idea of turning the Gallery building into UltraCamp’s office space came up.

“When it became evident we would not get an appraisal to support the project in Plym Park we just started looking at other options,” Ashley said. “Financing just worked better in (the Gallery building). We did get an appraisal on the building with the project and that came in sufficient to support the project.”

Although the details of the exchange agreement still need to be worked out, Ashley said they plan to begin construction in as soon as six weeks and be in the building before the end of the year.

“That’s the plan,” he said.

He estimates the Gallery building will need about $1 million worth of work.

Mayor Mike McCauslin said the city is excited about the deal.

“We are really looking forward to and are excited about what you can do with the building,” he said. “It should be a great partnership.”

UltraCamp has 14 employees with most living in Niles.

Prior to moving to the City of Four Flags, the company was based in Maryland.

The Gallery building sits at the corner of Second and Main streets. It is a two-story structure with over 8,500 square feet of space.

The city purchased it in 2012 for about $20,000.

The history of the building dates back to the 1800s, when it was a three-story structure that housed a variety of businesses, including a barber shop, cabinet maker and shoe and boot shop. Fire destroyed the building in the 1920s and was rebuilt as the two-story structure seen today. It housed many businesses in the 1900s, including the JC Penny Company.