Three companies have submitted redevelopment proposals to the City of Peoria for turning the Tower on Adams property into a mixed-use commercial and residential property.
Meanwhile, the city also has entered into an agreement with the owners of the Riverview Plaza as a step toward getting the closed high-rise repaired.
City Manager Patrick Urich tells WCBU that Peoria-based Baldovin Construction, J. Jeffers & Company of Milwaukee, and Rockford-based Urban Equity Properties filed proposals for Tower on Adams — commonly known as the PNC Bank Building — ahead of Thursday afternoon’s deadline.
“Staff will be reviewing the three proposals and working through that evaluation to make a recommendation to the city council,” said Urich.
Peoria purchased the Tower on Adams complex that also includes the adjacent Creve Coeur Building and accompanying parking deck, in a $1.75 million agreement with Cullinan Properties last September, with the goal of having the buildings updated with new residential and retail space.
The tower building currently has two commercial tenants, PNC Bank and the Clifton Larson Allen firm. In May, PNC Bank extended its lease with the city through 2031. CLA’s lease with the city expires in 2027, although the business has plans to relocate to a Peoria Heights office complex by the end of next year.
“Our hope is to still see that the building developed as a mixed-use building,” said Urich. “PNC will be here for the foreseeable future, and we’re looking forward to seeing what the developers’ vision for the project might be.”
Riverview updates
As for Riverview Plaza, Urich said owners MJ Illinois agreed to put $500,000 into an escrow account that will be used solely for getting the fire alarms and sprinkler system fixed. Urich said the city agreed to drop its demand to have penalties and fines imposed and collected.
“From our perspective, what we wanted to ensure is that the life safety issues — if there’s something that happened in the building and our firefighters had to go into the building, that it would be safe for them to enter the building,” he said. “So that’s the reason why we went this route.”
The 20-story building has been closed since a February 2024 water main leak damaged the fire suppression system. Most of the commercial tenants have since moved out, with Chase Bank shutting down its branch there in September.
That same month, Peoria and the building owners reached a settlement agreement to have the numerous code violations addressed. But no timeline was established and no repairs have yet been made.
“What we’ve said all along is we wanted compliance on getting the life safety code issues addressed so that the building could eventually get back into operation, and he’s moving in the right direction,” said Urich, adding the new agreement ensures the stipulated work will be completed over the next 6-7 months.
“But there’s still going to be other work necessary before he would have the building open, where he could offer it up to tenants for lease. At this point in time, we’re not at that point.”
