At least 100 people in two separate groups were on the fifth and sixth floors of a Bloomingdale hotel when fighting broke out, ending in a shooting that left as many as a half-dozen people injured, one of whom later died, police said.
We had concerns. We had a drastic spike, Giammarese said.
Police initially responded to a call of shots fired on the fifth floor of the hotel at 2:35 a.m., officials said.
Officers responding to the suburban hotel located at 250 Schick Road said they saw no security on duty, just a lone hotel employee at the front desk.
They arrived to find dozens of people running from the building where they found as many as six people gunshot victims inside on the 5th floor. We had five shooting victims. As far as we know - five, Giammarese said. But unfortunately, there could have been more. More than 100 people fled the hotel before we had any contact with them.
New Drake neighborhood hotel open for business Friday, December 18, 2020 4:41 PM
A view of the newly opened Home2 Suites by Hotel and retail space in the 2600 block of University Avenue. Photo by Kathy A. Bolten
The hospitality industry has been among the hardest hit during the pandemic.
Yet that didn’t dissuade a development group from moving forward with opening a 124-room Home2 Suites by Hilton at 2650 University Ave. As a developer and owner, we’re playing the long game, said Alexander Grgurich, director of development and chief operating officer with Nelson Construction & Development. We saw the potential in the Drake Neighborhood pre-pandemic and we believe, post-pandemic, its potential will get even better.
Tim Shelley / Peoria Public Radio
Former Hotel Pere Marquette developers Gary Matthews and Monte Brannan were indicted Tuesday on 21 federal felony counts of money laundering, consipracy to commit money laundering, mail fraud, and concealment of bankruptcy assets.
In a 26-page indictment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Darilyn Knauss said the two men defrauded their investors, the city of Peoria, lenders, and others by illegally diverting money earmarked for the hotel s renovation and revenue from the hotel project for their personal and business use.
Peoria taxpayers had significant skin in the game on the Pere Marquette deal. In 2012, the city loaned Matthews $7 million and doled out $29 million in grants to invigorate the redevelopment effort. The city subsequently had to eat those costs in 2018 when a bankruptcy court awarded ownership of the hotel to its largest investor, INDURE Build-to-Core, an union-owned real estate investment fund.