The Riverfront Debacle Continues

From Jennifer Davis' article in today's Peoria Journal Star regarding last night's council meeting:

Approved 9-1, with Sandberg opposed, a "Phase II" agreement with local developer Mike Wisdom, who proposes a $5 million, three-story office building at Riverfront Village. Wisdom's initial project at Riverfront Village, including Old Chicago restaurant and the now-vacant Damon's restaurant, has failed to break even as promised, noted Sandberg. City staff agreed that the project is subsidized by about $100,000 annually from the Downtown (TIF) tax increment finance district.

Still, both Wisdom and [Randy] Oliver told the council they are confident this development - through additional property taxes on the office building and parking revenues - will end the need for subsidy.

How many times have the Peoria taxpayers heard this story? Every development project downtown has failed and has cost the city hundreds of thousands. These developers and the city leadership have a horrible track record with these investments.

Of course, there was no mention to whether this new development fits into the guidelines of the Heart of Peoria plan. But why bother because I seriously doubt that any of them, with exception to Gary Sandberg, ever plan to implement the HOP because it's probably a hurdle to what they really want to do or curtail how much money developers could actually make.

Common Sense of it All: With all the vacant buildings in town already, do we really need more office space? Expect more losses. Kudos to Gary Sandberg for standing ground.