Levee District Opening Eyes for Even Brighter Economic Future
By: Eugene Daniel
Updated: January 10, 2013
EAST PEORIA - East Peoria's
newly named downtown area, the Levee District, is already opening eyes for what
the future could hold. .
It wasn't long ago, that
many could not imagine this part of East Peoria blooming into what it is
becoming. Thursday night, city and regional leaders came together at the
Embassy Suites in East Peoria, and many agree the progress reaches far beyond
the new downtown.
"A healthy East Peoria is healthy for Peoria
and the entire region. So there's a lot of good things happening around our
region right now, and the key is economic development," said Rep. Mike
Unes, (R-91).
A variety of already
committed shops and stops are a highly anticipated engine for that development.
And on a day like
Thursday when the soon-to-open Target held its search for employees, the city
says the hundreds of projected new jobs in the region is a bright future.
"We know it's over
300 people who are receiving a paycheck, who are constructing the Levee
District currently. And that's nowhere near where that's going to be employed
in the future," said mayor Dave Mingus.
Jim Mamer, President
and C.E.O. of Morton Community Bank, is heavily involved in Levee District
developments and looks forward to the money brought in by new business.
"This next year
alone there's going to be $195 million more provided in sales tax in the city
of East Peoria, and that's amazing when these stores open up," he said.
Some, like Mamer, are
already thinking even further down the road beyond the new district.
"There's about six
and a half acres that we know that is sort of unspoken for at this time on Altorfer
Drive. But in addition to that, if you look further down the Clock Tower Drive
you'll see that goes in on the Camp Street side," he said. "And I envision there's going to be a spill
over, once [the Levee District] fills up, into there completely."
But for now, what's
next for the Levee District? Mingus says the focus in on watching how the new
development unfolds.
"Right now we're
kind of in a holding pattern and that's not all bad, because we'll need to
catch up a little bit, get infrastructure on property, get landscapes. But I'm
sure in 2013, we'll hold some announcements that we're not aware of today,"
he said.
