The $24.6 million project not only addresses critical infrastructure needs but also enhances connectivity for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists between the East Peoria levee and Peoria Warehouse Districts.
PEORIA Warehouses no longer account for a significant part of the Peoria Warehouse District.
Residences, small businesses and restaurants and bars have begun to permeate the historic area located just southwest of Downtown Peoria. More developments are being planned.
But Warehouse District revitalization hardly has been an overnight process.
April represents the 14th anniversary of the city s recognition of the Warehouse District as a potential growth area.
In 2007, a tax-increment-financing plan the city commissioned noted the area had more than 300 buildings that might lend themselves to commercial, residential or mixed-use development.
More than 90% of those buildings were constructed before 1972. That was critical. To be designated as a conservation area, at least half its buildings must be at least 35 years old.
PEORIA Justice Parker always knew she would be a business owner.
Parker, 25, owns Hello Poppy Boutique in the Peoria Warehouse District. Because her family owns the 50 s Diner in the Metro Centre, she’s been around entrepreneurs all her life.
Hello Poppy isn’t Parker’s first business. Soon after having her second child, she started The Sparkly TeeCup, an online shop for custom-made T-shirts and tumblers. She made all the merchandise herself from designs dictated by the customer.
“I had it for about two years, and it was super successful,” said Parker. “But I had an injury to my wrist, and I was unable to continue that one, so I opened up the boutique.”