The City of Peoria is using 46-thousand dollars of Tax Increment Finance funds to pay for a Taft Homes redevelopment study. Peoria Public Radio’s Tanya Koonce reports:
The Peoria Housing Authority property is within the Northside Riverfront TIF. The City is using TDA consulting to do the analysis. The firm specializes in working on public housing issues and its long-standing relationship with the Local Initiative Support Corporation. LISC and PHA are partnering with the city for the study results. Peoria City Manager Patrick Urich says the study is to consider all redevelopment options for the Taft Homes.
“Whether that means dispersing some of the public housing throughout the community. Whether that means redeveloping onsite, what are some of the financing mechanisms we can look at, and then really trying to devise some concrete plans based on that, Urich says. “It’s not going to be developing elevations where you see what a development might look like.”
Taft is the largest housing project in Peoria with more than 400 families. HUD now requires housing authorities to decentralize poverty. A 2011 study of the Taft Property considered redeveloping it onsite. Information presented to the city council says the land represents a development opportunity that can improve outcomes for the PHA while spurring investment in Peoria’s near north side. The study is to be completed by the end of the year.