PEORIA MAGAZINE June 2023

“One group that I’m interested in bringing in are the South Side alumni: those people who grew up on the South Side of Peoria … They live all over America,” Ali said. “Sometimes they come back to town for a class reunion or a family reunion. One of the first things they want to do is go visit the area they grew up in, and they see all these (negative) changes. “But these people, sometimes they are wealthy … and may be interested in investing in those areas they grew up in.” Two pending projects loom on tracts cleared via the land bank. At MacArthur Highway near West McBean Street, across from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Park, MacArthur Senior flats would encompass four stories and 60 units. Off West Antoinette Street, near St. Ann’s Catholic Church and the Garden of Hope, townhouses and duplexes at Churchview Garden Homes would total 48 units. For those two proposals, the city is working with Ohio-based Pivotal Housing. If all goes well, construction could start in 2024 and finish by year’s end. The two projects could be a boon to South Peoria, said city officials. “You’re talking within just those two areas of 61605 potentially $30 million of investment (and) 150 new housing units,” which is a start on reversing the 50-year trend of disinvestment in 61605, said Dulin. Over the next two years, the city hopes to create eight or nine development ready tracts, Dulin said. One likely looms in the 1900 and 2000 blocks of West Lincoln Avenue, a stretch consisting of mostly city-owned vacant lots, plus a few crumbling bungalows. Ali looks down the two blocks and sees much more. She imagines more duplexes and townhomes, thanks to the Peoria Land Bank. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to bring housing to the South Side,” Ali said. Phil Luciano is a senior writer/ columnist for Peoria Magazine and content contributor to public television station WTVP. He can be reached at

phil.luciano@wtvp.org

JUNE 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 93