PEORIA MAGAZINE March 2023

S P O T L I G H T

SAVING OLD BUILDINGS IS ‘IN HIS BLOOD’ From 401 Water to 416 Main, developer Kert Huber has left a mark on Downtown as few others have

BY LISA COON PHOTO BY RON JOHNSON

I f there has been a king of Down town development over the last few decades, the crown may go to Kert Huber, not that he’s keen on wearing it. The 74-year-old Dunlap resident has spent the last 40 years building, buying and renovating commercial properties, with a particular interest in those that seemed well past their prime. Alas, he avoids the limelight, quick to credit others. “Ray Becker did a lot to bring back the Downtown, then we built on what Ray did,” Huber said of the late developer responsible for Peoria’s Twin Towers, among other structures. And he says it was Tom Tincher, Peoria’s former director of development, who helped pique his interest in

rehabbing some of Downtown’s most iconic structures, in particular the riverfront building known today as 401 Water. A PIONEER Huber’s dedication to Downtown Peoria is evident in the projects he’s undertaken, whether it was the $11 million transformation of the former Foster-Gallagher warehouse into the office, retail and residential space of 401 Water; the restoration of the Judge Jacob Gale House, the oldest single-family dwelling remaining in the original town of Peoria; or the $5.5 million renovation of 416 Main, the architecturally stunning former Peoria Life Insurance/First National Bank/ Commerce Bank building that still

dominates Peoria’s Downtown skyline. “Kert was one of the early pioneers … of the concept that people would want to live downtown in a cool environment, work in a cool environment,” said Chris Setti, CEO of the Greater Peoria Economic Development Council. “Twenty-two years ago, 401 Water was one of the first major renovations of a building of that style in Peoria. His work there helped to cast a vision on what we see today on the other side of the Bob Michel Bridge in the Murray Building.” THE EARLY YEARS Growing up on a farm near Galva with two brothers and a sister, Huber learned the importance of hard work, caring for what you have and pride in the work you do.

42 MARCH 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE