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Commercial development in Washington, similar to its population, is possibly on the rise.
According to City Administrator Bob Morris, the city is “increasingly getting inquiries about commercial site options.”
“We are trying to basically identify and discuss all of the available sites and be in a position to extend a proposal to developers as they come to town,” Morris said.
While he wouldn’t get into any specifics of the number or kind of area developers were looking for or what kind of stores they could bring, he did say there has been an increase of inquiries over the last few months and one is “legitimate.”
“We are increasingly getting inquiries ... not specific locations, but general inquiries about available commercial sites both within the city limits and in the periphery limits,” Morris said.
“We are trying to offer them Washington options, knowing they are also looking through other communities; we’ve been working on that for a couple of months now.”
Although there wasn’t much discussion during the recession and things are just now starting to pick up, Morris cautioned that it “isn’t like wildfire,” nor are any deals in place quite yet.
“These folks are looking at all of the Peoria area, not just in Washington ... they basically shop around. We’ve got one very legitimate inquiry and a softer one,” he said.
“Nothing is firm, but people are kind of ‘kicking the tires’ so to speak.”
These inquiries and talks are in the infancy stage and very slow moving according to Morris, who also said the city is fully focused on the Sunnyland Plaza development project, which the council will be discussing at its Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night.
Commercial development in Washington, similar to its population, is possibly on the rise.
According to City Administrator Bob Morris, the city is “increasingly getting inquiries about commercial site options.”
“We are trying to basically identify and discuss all of the available sites and be in a position to extend a proposal to developers as they come to town,” Morris said.
While he wouldn’t get into any specifics of the number or kind of area developers were looking for or what kind of stores they could bring, he did say there has been an increase of inquiries over the last few months and one is “legitimate.”
“We are increasingly getting inquiries ... not specific locations, but general inquiries about available commercial sites both within the city limits and in the periphery limits,” Morris said.
“We are trying to offer them Washington options, knowing they are also looking through other communities; we’ve been working on that for a couple of months now.”
Although there wasn’t much discussion during the recession and things are just now starting to pick up, Morris cautioned that it “isn’t like wildfire,” nor are any deals in place quite yet.
“These folks are looking at all of the Peoria area, not just in Washington ... they basically shop around. We’ve got one very legitimate inquiry and a softer one,” he said.
“Nothing is firm, but people are kind of ‘kicking the tires’ so to speak.”
These inquiries and talks are in the infancy stage and very slow moving according to Morris, who also said the city is fully focused on the Sunnyland Plaza development project, which the council will be discussing at its Committee of the Whole meeting Monday night.
