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The City of London must seize the opportunity to buy valued downtown real estate, the site of London’s birthplace, from Middlesex County so that it can control how two sites are developed, downtown and heritage observers say.

Middlesex is looking at the possibility of sellingits lands at 50 King St. and 399 Ridout St. N., seeking “expressions of interest” after county council rejected unsolicited offers on the land.

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“It would be a wise decision (for the city),” said Gerald Gallacher, Downtown London board chairperson, saying whatever project is built on the lands overlooking the forks of the Thames River would have a tremendous impact on the downtown.

“It’s a key piece of property and, if they don’t own it, they are sort of at the mercy of a developer,” Gallacher said.

“They can control some things through site plan and zoning, but if they own it, they can lead by example and they can go ahead and do something there that can be fantastic.”