The city of East Peoria is taking its first big step in the development of its Downtown 2010 site.
The city approved the construction of a new $20million Holiday Inn and Suites on the land where Caterpillar factories once stood.
In a 3 to 2 vote Tuesday, the city decided to offer Heart of America, a hotel and restaurant developer, $7 million in incentives to secure the Holiday Inn project.
That includes $3 million paid up front and the city will not charge the developer for the land. The city will reimburse the developer $2.5 million of the $13 million it borrowed for the project and that money will be repaid over the next 20 years.
The six story hotel will have 137 rooms, a meeting room for up to 300 people and an upscale restaurant.
East Peoria Commissioner Tim Jeffers supported the project because of the economic impact it will have almost immediately.
"They'll start construction this fall and to me that was a selling point, that they were ready to go now and they're sold on this project," said Jeffers, adding it will bring jobs to the area once construction begins and when the hotel is finished.
Heart of America says downtown Peoria's Holiday Inn City Centre is nearing the end of its license period and will lose it once East Peoria's Holiday Inn is finished in 2012.
Peoria mayor Jim Ardis admits it is hard to compete with East Peoria's development right now.
He says Peoria has had similar growth periods and it too has many new hotels near the Shoppes at Grand Prairie.
He says he is optimistic the tables will turn in the favor of Peoria again once the city's $100 million Marriott Hotel Project gets underway.
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