One of Peoria’s most prominent intersections may soon be home to a drive-through coffee chain’s first Illinois location.
Initial plans for a small shopping center at the long-vacant lot at the southeast corner of War Memorial Drive and University Street begin with a Dutch Bros Coffee shop.
“We’ve been very interested in trying to see development there,” said Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich, noting the property is in a tax increment financing [TIF] district set up several years ago to spark new business at the former car dealership site.
“At one point, there was a credit union that was looking at the site; they decided not to go forward. So, we're very pleased that this development is coming in, and we’re looking forward to seeing that this gets moving forward and breaking ground.”
An updated special-use ordinance going before the Peoria City Council on Tuesday includes provisions aimed at easing traffic pattern concerns raised by nearby residents and neighboring businesses.
“One of the concerns is access in-and-out because it's such a busy intersection, and making sure that we get vehicles in and out safely,” said Urich.
The planning and zoning commission’s unanimous 4-0 approval recommendation includes several conditions, including right-turn-only access off northbound University. Drivers also would be able to get to the coffee shop from Florence Avenue to the south, with left-turn-in and right-turn-out restrictions.
“When this was originally proposed to be a credit union, the traffic wasn't going to be as significant,” said Urich. “We're more concerned with a coffee shop going in there just because of the volume of traffic that would be there. We feel this is the safest for traffic movements there.”
There is no access to the lot from eastbound War Memorial. Developers RSCC Group, Inc. have expressed a desire for a third access point, possibly from Parish Avenue to the east. Parish doesn’t currently connect with War Memorial, but Urich said that may be something they consider down the line.
“We've been approved for right-turn in, right-turn out from IDOT [Illinois Department of Transportation] at that location, so that's one possibility to look at,” said Urich. “We as a city have some concerns about the public safety aspect of Parish, and I think our fire department would love to see full intersection access at that location.
“Just from a safety standpoint, it makes it easier to get the fire vehicles that are at Station 11 out and responding to emergencies faster. So that's a future discussion we'll have to have with IDOT.”
The Oregon-based Dutch Bros chain has about 1,000 locations across the country. The closest is nearly 150 miles away in the St. Louis suburb of O’Fallon, Mo. The company launched an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.
The plans before council indicate a future second drive-through business could be developed to the east of the Dutch Bros site. While the full vacant lot is 4.5 acres, the proposed first two businesses would be built on about 1.5 acres on the north end.
“It's zoned commercial, so we would be open to other types of commercial development that would be amenable to that location,” Urich said of the entire site. “We'll continue to work with the property owners to try and find a good fit.”
