City property on Court Street that's located in one of Pekin's busiest commercial areas, but is currently being used as a stormwater facility, has been sold to a developer for $100,000.
"That's a very fair price," said Josh Wray, Pekin's economic development director. "Although we would typically expect a higher price for such a prime location, there's a high cost to develop this property because the stormwater facility."
The Pekin City Council on Monday approved the purchase agreement with Peoria-based JPG Commercial Real Estate as the developer. The company has been the developer of multiple Pekin stores over the past several years, mostly stand-alone businesses.
JPG owner Jeffrey Graves submitted a preliminary site plan to the city that shows three retail tenants on his new property that is located between CEFCU and PNC Bank branches and in front of Menard's near the Veterans Drive intersection.
"One of the tenants is ready to build," Wray said. "That's the impetus for bringing this transaction to the council at this time."
The council's vote was 6-0, with Karen Hohimer not in attendance. Council member Dave Nutter shared excitement about the development.
"You're going to fill a huge hole out there, and that's a beautiful thing," Nutter said to Graves.
According to the purchase agreement, JPG will pay the estimated $1.75 million cost to relocate the stormwater facility across Court Street to a one-acre site owned by the city, which will do the engineering for the facility.
The city will reimburse JPG for the relocation work through Tax Increment Financing [TIF] and Business Development District [BDD] redevelopment agreements that must be approved by the council.
JPG is estimating the property, when developed, will generate about $4 million annually in sales, which would provide about $230,000 in sales tax revenue each year for the city.
According to Pekin officials, the city would keep about $57,500 of the $230,000 and JPG would be reimbursed about $172,500 for about 10 years. After the reimbursement is complete, the city would get all its sales tax revenue.
Construction of the retail stores is expected to begin next spring. Before then, questions about traffic flow, parking and signage need to be answered.
'It's not us vs. them up here'
In response to heated and sometimes violence-filled political disagreements across the country, council member Peg Phillips urged Pekin residents Monday to be careful when they talk to other community members about politics and "take down the temperature" on those discussions.
"Everyone is scared," she said. "It seems like we need to prepare for a hate crime here. Not if, but when."
A public comment speaker at the Sept. 8 council meeting was angry about being cut off at the five-minute time limit and was disruptive when another speaker was talking.
"It's not us vs. them up here," Phillips said. "It's only us. We're all community members."
Sangalli's granted $100K forgivable loan
In other action Monday:
• The council approved giving a $100,000 forgivable TIF loan to Jack Sangalli to help him pay for renovations at Sangalli's Italian Steakhouse, 2217 Court Street, which will reopen soon. The action passed on a 4-1-1 vote, with Rick Hilst opposed and Phillips abstaining.
In exchange for the loan, Sangalli's must generate $25,000 annually in sales tax revenue for the city for four years or pay the difference if it falls short. If the restaurant generates more than $25,000 in sales tax revenue for the city in a year, the additional revenue will go toward the forgiveness of the loan. The city will have a mortgage against the Sangalli's property for $100,000 that will be released upon full forgiveness or repayment.
• The council voted 5-1 in allowing Pekin to be part of a multi-community, one-year electric supply aggregation agreement with Good Energy that will go into effect in May 2026. Small businesses and residential customers will be part of the agreement unless they opt out.
The agreement guarantees a maximum price of 13.2 cents per kilowatt-hour. The city's current aggregation rate is 10.88 per kilowatt-hour; Ameren's summer rate for June through September is 12.18. Hilst cast the lone "no" vote.
• The council approved by a 5-1 vote a residential TIF agreement for Martin and Kim Duda, who plan to build a home costing more than $700,000 at 27 Osprey Court. The Dudas will receive a maximum $48,900 in property tax rebates over the next 10 years. Hilst dissented.
• Council unanimously approved an ordinance that regulates short-term rentals. Among the provisions in the ordinance are licensing, limiting the number of short-term rentals in the city to a maximum of 15, and restricting guest rooms to no more than five and the rental duration to a maximum 29 consecutive days.
• Council voted unanimously in favor of an agreement with Alto Ingredients that allows the company to pay the city's utility taxes on natural gas, electricity and water in $20,833 per month increments starting in July 2027. The combined utility taxes are capped at $250,000 annually for a taxpayer. Alto easily exceeds that number each year.
Alto has inadvertently paid nearly $1.5 million over the cap since the taxes went into effect in May 2024. The city will reimburse Alto $750,000 immediately, with the remainder credited against the company's future tax liability.
• Council unanimously approved hiring Pekin-based Giffin Reeise Engineering to serve as the city engineer for the next five years. The annual cost to the city is $240,000, which includes a robust scope of work and meets the daily requirements of the position, according to Public Works Director Simon Grimm.
Additional engineering work could be done with the approval of the council. Hanson Professional Services of Peoria and Millennia Professional Services of Morton could contribute to the additional work.
• Council approved awarding a $97,250 contract for sewer lining on Summer Street, Herman Street and West Shore Drive to lone bidder Hoerr Construction of Goodfield.
• Council approved spending $22,766 to cover annual network maintenance, including software upgrades, firmware patches and security definition updates.
• Council approved spending $250 for dues to belong to the Illinois Public Works Mutual Aid Network. Payment will be made in December for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
• Council approved a site plan for a commercial solar farm that will be built by Sunny Pasture Solar at 310 Hanna Drive. The Zoning Board of Appeals recommended approval of the site plan, with is consistent with the council's 2022 approval of a special use.
Businesses host grand openings
This is a big week for grand openings in Pekin, beginning with Tuesday morning's opening of Chipotle Mexican Grill at 3440 Court Street.
City Manager John Dossey said Monday there will be another grand opening Thursday from 7:45-8:15 p.m. for Marshall's at 3524 Court Street, followed by an 8 a.m. event Friday at the rebranded Walmart on Veterans Drive.
Praise for Pekin
Dossey and Mayor Mary Burress each said Monday that Pekin was a topic of conversation last week at the Illinois Municipal League's annual conference in Chicago.
"People were praising us for doing our residential TIF program and labor law practices correctly," Dossey said.
Burress said, "the city is on fire. We're getting noticed because of all the good things that are happening."
Burress met with Caterpillar CEO Joe Creed at the company's 100th anniversary celebration last week in Edwards.
She said Creed mentioned the proposed data center coming to Pekin in the Lutticken property and told her Caterpillar would do anything it can do to help the city.
