The Bellevue City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the plan to buy two properties off Lakemont Boulevard Southeast for $19.1 million. The money will come from the city, a grant from the King County Conservation Futures fund and potential regional grants, according to the city.

Tuesday’s vote caps a long debate over the South Bellevue property that’s bordered on three sides by the Coal Creek Natural Area and one side by the King County-owned Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. It ends an effort by a company to build 35 single-family homes on about half of the 12 acres that builders emphasized would be below-market rates in a community with rapidly rising home prices.