A nearly $7.3 million redevelopment project along the 500 block of Main Street in Downtown Peoria calls for three street-level eateries and a boutique hotel on the second floor.
The Peoria City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a redevelopment agreement to move forward with renovation of 500-516 Main Street, comprising the commercial storefronts in the historic Madison Theatre building.
Developers Gerald Ritterbusch and Jeff Giebelhausen view the redevelopment as a key piece in getting the dormant Madison Theatre reopened.
“When we got involved in this block and the Madison Theatre undertaking many years ago — it seems like five, six, seven years ago — it was all about the Madison Theatre. And even though tonight we’re talking about the redevelopment of Main Street, what we’re really talking about is the first step to bringing that beautiful theater back to life,” said Giebelhausen.
“We need to save the Madison Theatre because it is it is something that we have in this country that has some European roots to it,” added Ritterbusch. “All we need now is to try and get some people interested in redoing the Madison Theatre, and that coupled with what we put into the Main Street side of it, I think, is going to make a very attractive place.”
In a related action, the city agreed to sell the surface parking lot at the west corner of Madison Avenue and Hamilton Boulevard, on the opposite side of the theater, to the developers for $800,000.
“We’ve agonized quite a long time about the fact that if we have a boutique in there, we do need to provide parking,” said Ritterbusch. “We’ve discussed the parking lot many times, and that’s why we put a lot of effort into being able to acquire that so we can have control over it.”
Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich noted the city currently leases the lot from the Illinois Department of Transportation. The developers’ purchase will be finalized after that lease expires next June.
“We will still work with the developer to ensure that they have the space for construction vehicles to park in the parking lot to have that access, and the developers actually stated that they would be willing to make improvements to the lot ahead of time as the project goes forward,” said Urich.
The $7.26 million cost for the Main Street project is entirely TIF-eligible expenses, with the incremental property tax generated estimated at $1.76 million. The developers requested TIF reimbursement of $1.45 million, which is 83% of the expected increment.
Additional incentives include reimbursement for 1% of three different Business Development District taxes [retailers, service and hotel operators] through 2031. The total reimbursement for the complete project is capped at $1.68 million.
“All the reimbursements only total about 21% of the total investment. So again, this is this is a very reasonable reimbursement rate that that’s very consistent with other developments that we’ve done throughout the city,” said Urich.
The plans for the restaurants include a 50% expansion of Hoops Pizza & Pub, into space formerly occupied by the Neon Bison.
An establishment offering a “traditional Midwest menu” would take the middle commercial unit, while a higher-end coffee, wine and dining venue would move into the corner space at 500 Main Street.
“We’ll have a more upscale offering. But we’ll also have a deli, coffee, and bakery component of it. Imagine a fresh bakery in Downtown Peoria because that’s what we’re going to have,” said Giebelhausen.
“In doing this, it doesn’t work if you leave the second floor unused. So, we came up with the idea of doing a 24-guest room boutique hotel. It’ll be the first boutique hotel in the Peoria metro market, and we’re really excited about that.”
Urich said the developers also have agreed to upgrade the sidewalks around the theater building to make them ADA compatible.
