Plans for a 200-home residential neighborhood at the former Exposition Gardens site in Peoria are taking shape, with an adjustment to the location footprint.
The Peoria City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the city’s side of a land exchange with Peoria Public Schools which aims to make the property more attractive to developers and better meet the needs of both government bodies.
“For those of us that have been supporting the concept of this project from the beginning, this is a significant step,” said council member Tim Riggenbach.
“Clearly there were needs on both sides, and to be able to exchange the property in a manner like this without expending other taxpayers’ money, I think that comes out as a win for everybody.”
Under the agreement, Peoria receives a roadway connected to University Street on the north side of the property to create a second entry point into the anticipated subdivision. Additionally, the city gets additional frontage along Northmoor Road for potential neighborhood commercial development.
In exchange, the school district gets a long stretch of land to the west of the Richwoods High School athletic fields.
“They wanted some property between the existing Expo property and their bus maintenance facility to build an additional facilities building,” said city attorney Patrick Hayes. “The city felt that that was positive because that would create a buffer between this residential area and where hundreds of busses park on a regular basis, and so we were amenable to that.”
The agreement does not include any exchange of funds, despite the city giving up significantly more land than it’s receiving.
“Even though that, along with the frontage right between the two properties, it winds up being more on a square footage basis. In many people’s view, the access to University and the Northmoor frontage is far more valuable than that interior square footage,” said Hayes.
Peoria spent $1.2 million last year to purchase the Expo Gardens site at a foreclosure auction, aided by a $2 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity [DCEO] that’s earmarked for land banks and housing development.
City Manager Patrick Urich said the grant money has not yet been received, and that there was no consideration to purchasing the additional property directly from the school district.
“I do think it would have been eligible, if we had gone that route,” said Urich. “When we approached the state, we specifically asked about the fairground piece and talked about that as being an important part that we wanted to access those funds and use the land bank funds for that that purpose.”
Another condition of the agreement at the school district’s request is to not include the Expo Gardens in any potential tax increment financing [TIF] district. Hayes said a TIF district was “not the city’s ambition, in any regard.”
“We could include it in the in the Urban Enterprise Zone, which was important for us because that will assist the developer with some of the costs of development,” he said. “The city has a modest property tax abatement as part of our enterprise zone program that the school district does not presently participate in.”
In a separate action, council member John Kelly had planned to request an urban decay designation for Expo Gardens to make the area eligible for incentives through the city’s existing abatement ordinance.
“We can help defray people’s state income tax with that additional money. These incentives last for 10 years,” said Kelly, who opted to table his agenda item.
“Even though I believe that this would result in the best subdivision we could possibly have, which we really need in our city, I think more discussion, more questions need to be answered.”
Mayor Rita Ali indicated she would not support Kelly’s proposal.
“I don’t think the urban decay initiative is a fit for the Expo area. I don’t believe that it’s a decayed or blighted area. I also think that it is in contrast to the agreement that we all unanimously approved,” she said.
“This is very similar to a TIF, and it delays property taxes for about 10 years. I think that’s in counter to the agreement or understanding that we have with the school district.”
The city already has put out requests for qualifications in seeking developers for the Expo Gardens site. The current submission deadline is June 9, but Hayes and Urich said that date may be extended to give the interested parties additional time to consider implications of the land swap.
“Hopefully, we’re able to clarify with the developers as we have the conversation [about] the advantages of being located next to the school,” said Urich.
“As we work with the developer, the way that they plan out the subdivision [and] the way they lay out the homes, there may be more ways that they might be able to build in a larger buffer.”
The Board of Education is expected to vote on approval of the land exchange at its meeting on June 8.
“I think it’s a win-win for both taxing bodies, as government bodies, as well as for eventually for the city,” said Ali.
