Harry Weiss, director of the Medford Urban Renewal Agency, said the house at 604 Beatty St. is in “awful” condition and would be demolished.

More blighted properties in the low-income Liberty Park neighborhood are being eyed for demolition and redevelopment by Medford officials.

The Medford Urban Renewal Agency will hold a public hearing after the 6 p.m. Medford City Council meeting Dec. 14 before deciding whether to purchase properties at 604 and 616 Beatty St.

MURA previously acquired other adjacent properties at 608 and 618 Beatty St.

In June, MURA authorized purchasing 618 Beatty St. for $160,000 and 608 Beatty St. property for $239,500.

When MURA officials informed surrounding property owners that they would demolish the houses on these properties, two neighboring property owners on Beatty approached MURA and indicated they were willing to sell their lots.

If approved by the MURA Board, 604 Beatty St. would be purchased for $200,000, and 616 Beatty St. would be purchased for $275,000. The 604 Beatty St. property sits at the corner of Manzanita Street.

With the two additional properties, MURA would control a row of properties, opening the door to potential development of a multifamily housing project.

If approved, MURA will first resolve a number of title issues on the properties.

“There are all these ridiculous title problems on all of these properties,” said Harry Weiss, director of MURA.

The problems date back to the 1920s, when the city created a 10-lot subdivision and alley that also included properties along Niantic Street. At the time, the city was thinking about widening Beatty Street.

Ever since, there has been confusion about the property lines because the city never vacated the alley.

Weiss said the title issues can be resolved with a little patience, and he noted that urban renewal agencies often deal with these kinds of problems when taking over problem properties.

He said the house at 604 Beatty St. is in “awful” condition and would be demolished.

For the time being, the house at 616 Beatty St. is in decent shape and eventually could be moved to another location.

Another issue with the properties is that they are zoned “commercial,” which allows for multifamily housing. The current existing use of the properties doesn’t conform to the commercial zoning, Weiss said.

“It is not an efficient use of the land value,” he said.

At a minimum, an apartment complex with a minimum of 16 units could be build on the four properties.

In total, all the properties are almost the same size as the new Genesis workforce housing project in downtown Medford, which has 62 units.

Weiss said he thought the Beatty properties could have a potential 24- to 28-unit apartment complex. MURA has been hoping to attract more multi-family housing in the Liberty Park neighborhood.

Weiss describes the properties as blighted economically because they don’t conform to their underlying zoning, as well as because of their condition.

In the Liberty Park neighborhood, MURA has other projects in the works that could lead to more multi-family housing.

MURA previously bought the former Pacific Survey Supply property at 908-920 N. Riverside Ave. for $1,275,000 and has spent about $95,000 for demolition to prepare the site for redevelopment.

A land swap is underway with Esteban Gonzalez, who owns a 1.68-acre property along Bear Creek. MURA will exchange the 1.06-acre Pacific Supply property for Gonzalez’s land, so that he can build a 17,000-square-foot Mexican market close to Riverside.

MURA also hopes to attract a developer to build an apartment building closer to Bear Creek.

Another low-income housing project — on a 3.25-acre property on Central Avenue — could have 115 one- to three-bedroom units. Another attempt will be made next year to secure a number of government grants to help fund the project.