PEKIN, Ill. – A “turning point” for Pekin was approved on Monday.
That’s the phrasing from Economic Development Director Joshua Wray, upon two items approved by the city council.
Council first approved taking out $12.5 million in loans to complete the purchase of the Lutticken Farm property. The overall price tag for the property is $14 million.
The original plan had the city purchasing the property in a four-year time frame. Pekin is planning to use 40-50 acres of the property to extend Veterans’ Drive to I-474. But Wray says the city had an option to complete the purchase earlier if an opportunity came about from a developer to purchase part of the land.
Wray says that opportunity came in November, when Western Hospitality Partners, or WHP, showed interest in purchasing a portion of the property. Following the vote to take out the loan to fully buy the property, city council approved the sale of 321 acres of the land to WHP for $4.5 million.
Wray says the money from that sale will help pay off the $12.5 million loan.
WHP will develop a technology park on the site to have several data center buildings to house servers for AI and cloud based services. Wray says once WHP is up and running, it’s expected to add around 100 jobs and generate tax revenues of around $20 million each year to support city services.
“Repaving roads and we’ve got some old fire stations that need built, all those things can be paid for with this kind of money,” Wray said.
Wray says due to working with electrical and water utilities, he does not expect construction to begin until next year.
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