UPDATED 1:24 p.m.
PEORIA, Ill. – The sale of a Peoria-area luxury apartment complex is off.
5th District Peoria City Councilman Dennis Cyr says the city’s meeting later this week about the sale of Prairie Vista Apartments, that was to be at Dunlap High School, has been cancelled. Cyr also says the application by Colorado-based Integrity Housing, a non-profit, to purchase and renovate the complex, has been withdrawn.
“I just knew that, after that meeting [I had] last Friday [with Prairie Vista], it was just not a good fit for the 5th District, and for Peoria,” said Cyr, in an interview with WMBD’s Craig Collins and Will Stevenson.
Since the proposal was first learned through documents sent to the City Council, the deal which included the issuance of bonds by the Tri-County River Valley Development Authority has received a large amount of public scrutiny.
Members of the Dunlap School Board were concerned about a lack of property tax revenue, since a non-profit was buying the property.
“We were standing to lose $600,000 a year for the next ten or fifteen years,” said Cyr, “and the Dunlap School District was standing to lose about 51 cents on every dollar of that money.”
That’s property tax revenue that would have been lost, Cyr says, had the deal the Colorado-based developer wanted gone through. He tells WMBD’s Craig Collins and Will Stevenson there are better ways to bring more housing to the area — both traditional and affordable.
The City of Peoria has declined further comment, other than to confirm the cancellation.
“The public meeting scheduled for April 6 regarding the Prairie Vista Apartments has been canceled. Applicant Integrity Housing has withdrawn its application with the Tri-County River Valley Development Authority. No further details are available at this time,” said a City news release.
WMBD’s full interview with Councilman Cyr will air during the “Craig Collins Show” at 3pm Monday.
