Planet Planning

Interesting that Peoria is this large in exports. Shows the importance of international trade.

Very impressive.

The importance of Europe to Illinois can be seen by the $11.2 billion in exports to Europe in 2007.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Peoria ranks 20th of all metropolitan cities exporting to Europe, putting it in league with New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

Article Below:

http://www.pjstar.com/business/x2068280923/Europe-Illinois-closely-linked

Site Search - 400,000 Square Feet

We have another site search. Please contact me if you have a property that would suit this request.

A planned start-up electric vehicle manufacturing project with the code name of Project Image is considering the Midwest to establish their company operations and would like to review Illinois options for their project. Planned employment and investment is substantial. The company contact indicated a preference for a southern Illinois site, but will also review northern Illinois sites. And, they are open to existing buildings and land sites.

Building Requirements

Ø Building required size: 400,000 sq. ft.

· Office: 50,000 sq. ft.

· Warehouse: 50,000 sq. ft.

· Production : 275,000 sq. ft.

· Clear ceiling height: 28' clear

Ø Number of truck doors: 20 Dock level and 5 Grade level

Ø Number of parking spaces: 550

Ø Building must have the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Thus, a proposed building should not be more than 10 years old unless significant improvements have been made that enabled the facility to obtain the LEED certification.

Ø Floors must be 6" thick

Ø Open to lease or purchase, but must be a single tenant or standalone 400K SF facility

Ø Facility must not have any outstanding environmental questions

Ø Cosmetically appealing

Land Requirements

Ø Minimum acres: 30 to a maximum of 50

Ø Must be shovel ready; that is, all pre-development due diligence work must be complete. Most importantly an environmental assessment must have been completed on a proposed site indicating there is no issues concerning wetlands, endangered species, archaeological digs, etc. An environmental impact statement is acceptable, but an environmental assessment is preferred.

Utility Requirements

Electricity

Ø Demand: 1,350 kW

Ø Usage: 396,000 average kWh per month

Ø Load factor: not provided

Ø Desired service voltage: 480 Volt and 3 Phase

Ø Hours of operation: 6 am to 12 am

Ø Operating days per week: 5 days

Ø Desired building amperage: 8000

Natural Gas

Ø Therms per month: TBD

Ø Cubic feet per hour: 10 MCF

Ø Pounds per square inch: Min. process

Water - Gallons per day: 8800

Wastewater - Gallons per day: 6160

Communications - Fiber optics, digital switching and high capacity T-1 all preferred

Transportation Requirements

Ø Interstate access: 10 miles is an acceptable distance. The plan calls for 50 trucks to enter and leave the facility each day.

Ø Rail service on-site is required. Fifty carloads per week is estimated.

Ø Preferred distance to a commercial airport: 50 miles. International and cargo service is desired.

Other site selection factors: The company would prefer a community that has a 5-10 year environmental plan to go green adopting and implementing environmental initiatives. The company would like to help a community achieve such objectives. Also, the Project Image company does not want to be the major employer in town.

Concerning the type of project, it is a plug in electric hybrid vehicle Project Image plans to produce. The company plans to finance the project with a federal government loan guarantee and private equity. The facility would primarily employ assemblers, but secondarily workers in mechanical occupations.

Project schedule: Select a site in the next 1-2 months. If new construction, begin construction in November 2010. (The gap between site selection and construction partly allows for federal EPA review of environmental assessment, which is required for federal loan assistance.) Begin operations in the new facility by February 2012.

Well, against all common sense I have added Twitter to our blogging effort in a low cost way to market our great city of Peoria, Illinois. Read at:

https://twitter.com/hullingerc

If you are already reading this blog it won't be very helpful, but people who have not found the blog yet may find us this way.

If you are interested in investing in our great city, read about opportunties at

https://peoria.blog.com

Or give us a call at 309 494 8640, or email at hullingerc@gmail.com

The City of Toronto provides a great overview of green development standards. The page explains City "Green" standards, the targets to achieve an improved standard, the recommended green standard, the relationship to LEED and other standards and possible implementation strategies in a matrix form. The website for the City is below:

http://www.toronto.ca/planning/greendevelopment.htm

Our thanks to Peoria County for this contribution.

Sustainability and Green Technology

Commission on Sustainability

and Green Technology

Development Standards Sub-Group

First draft

The Development Standards Sub-Group of the Peoria Commission on Sustainability and Green Technology has developed the following listing of desirable green technology improvements. Developers and governments are encouraged to implement

· Promote more efficient buildings

· Use passive solar orientation of buildings

· Encourage solar and wind energy systems

· Use recycled material in buildings

· Recycle building material waste

· Encourage rain harvesting & irrigation

· Support the use of natural landscaping

· Employ green roofs

· Improve City and County staff knowledge of “green” techniques

· Support quality construction for long lived buildings

· Encourage mixed use development

· Support walk to work programs

· Encourage development that supports transit

· Support efforts to redevelop older communities

· Permit Live / Work Space development

· Support natural open space and parks

· Design wetlands, drainage systems, retention and bio swales into parks

· Use open surface natural drainage where feasible

· Require street trees

· Encourage the use of geothermal energy

· Revisit development requirements, minimizing pavement widths and cost

· Update City / County codes to permit and encourage “green” development

· Support the development of the local production of “green” technology equipment

· Incorporate bikeways and pedestrian paths into new

and older developments

Main Street Commons - Proposed Building

This great new building is proposed by the Devonshire Group on the site of the closed Walgreen's on Main Street. They and we are requesting that School District 150 rejoin the Enterprise Zone so that they can get property tax abatement to assist the project. This does not cost 150 any money - the State makes up the difference, althought there is a time delay in getting the money.

This new $24,000,000 development would bring in new people, sales tax, property tax, and urban revitalization into the Heart of Peoria and Renaissance Park. We strongly support it.

WMBD/WYZZ TV did a good job explaining this issue.

http://centralillinoisproud.com/content/fulltext/?cid=58761

Proposed Illinois Historic Preservation Tax Credit

Peoples National Bank, through the Peoples Economic Development Corporation, is leading the effort to create a new State Historic Tax Credit Program. In our judgement, this would be a giant step in getting significant redevelopment underway in older cities. In Peoria, the Heart of Peoria would benefit substantially. Renaissance Park and the Warehouse District would see substantial investment if this becomes law.

__________________________________

Economic and Social Benefits to Illinois Citizens

Overview: The Proposed Illinois Historic Preservation Tax Credit allows for credit on Illinois state income taxes equal to 25% of the qualified cost of a historic rehabilitation. The credit may also be used in conjunction with the 20% federal tax credit. The credit would be available for either residential or commercial properties which are:

listed in the National Register of Historic Places,

contributing structures to a National Register historic district or a local historic district

recognized by the National Park Service, or,

eligible for inclusion in the National Register as determined by the State Historic Preservation Officer.

or a local district/property that has been designated by a local government, either city or county.

The restoration must be completed to the federal Secretary of the Interior Standards for Historic Preservation and reviewed for compliance by the State Historic Preservation Officer.

Economic and Social Benefits:

Supports community and state identity and allows communities to capitalize on heritage tourism initiatives.

Encourages private investment in derelict or underused buildings in historic neighborhoods and puts neglected properties on the tax rolls at a higher value thereby stimulating more economic investment in the area. This is especially valuable to Illinois’ Main Street communities, the downtowns of Illinois’ smaller rural communities, and in older neighborhoods of Illinois cities.

Creates jobs and economic impact far beyond the cost of the program and increases the tax base through new sales and payroll taxes.

Brings additional federal dollars into Illinois through increased use of the federal tax credit program.

Promotes environmentally friendly practices, preserves the resources and energy which were previously expended on older structures, and ensures that resources are not wasted, destroyed and discarded in a landfill.

Increases affordable housing opportunities by helping first-time and moderate income buyers through the mortgage credit provision. Lenders may use the tax credit to allow owners to buy down the interest rate or reduce the principal on their mortgage. It also encourages low-income rental housing when partnered with the federal low-income housing tax credit.

Promotes the redevelopment of vacant buildings thereby returning them to income producing, taxable status.

Limits urban sprawl and supports open space preservation and promotes environmental conservation by concentrating on previously developed areas.

Proposed Legislation

The proposed legislation is based on the highly successful Missouri law that was enacted in 1997. Since its passage, Missouri has been consistently recognized as the national leader for the preservation and promotion of its history. The National Park Service has just recently commended Missouri for once again being number one in the nation for federal tax credit projects reviewed and approved. Due to the success of the program it has been adopted by several other states including Iowa and Kansas.

Currently, 29 other states have adopted a state historic preservation tax credit. The state of Minnesota is currently considering similar legislation to the proposed legislation for the State of Illinois. In Missouri, the annual economic impact of historic preservation and heritage tourism was estimated by a Rutgers University study at $1.016 billion annually due to the economic activity related to increased expenditures, job growth and additional tax revenue.

A recent review by the Auditor General of the State of Missouri indicated that the state receives a $1.50 return for every $1 spent on the tax credit and annually recoups the cost of the credit in additional payroll taxes alone. Missouri’s historic preservation tax credit runs between $20 million and $30 million annually.

______________________________

Peoples Economic Development Corporation

Mission: Providing communities in Illinois and Missouri with the experience and the expertise to utilize historic resources for community growth and economic development.

About PEDC: Peoples National Bank, through the Peoples Economic Development Corporation, has launched an innovative and unique service designed to help communities plan for the restoration and economic revitalization of their historic resources. This unique program is being offered to communities, individual building owners, and not-for-profit agencies throughout Illinois and Missouri. Since serving these markets for over 100 years, Peoples National Bank has come to be an instrumental component for economic revitalization in the communities it serves. Through this experience it became obvious that many of these communities are struggling with issues surrounding an historic area, usually a downtown area that is badly needing historic restoration and the infusion of economic revitalization.

Even though this problem seems to be universal, there are programs, services, and financing options that are available to help bring life back to these areas. The Peoples Economic Development Corporation and Peoples National Bank are pleased to be conduits for positive action. With the depth of expertise and experience in community development, historic preservation, tax credits, and economic development programs that we are able to offer we can provide unique and affordable solutions to the many issues facing community leaders today.

Benefits of Historic Preservation:

● Supports community and state identity and allows communities to capitalize on heritage tourism initiatives.

● Encourages private investment in derelict or underused buildings in historic neighborhoods.

● Creates jobs and increases economic activity.

● Brings additional federal dollars into the community through increased use of the federal tax credit program.

● Promotes environmentally friendly practices, preserves the resources and energy which were previously expended on

older structures, and ensures that resources are not wasted, destroyed and discarded in a landfill.

● Increases affordable housing opportunities.

● Promotes the redevelopment of vacant buildings thereby returning them to income producing, taxable status.

● Limits urban sprawl and supports open space preservation and promotes environmental conservation by concentrating on

previously developed areas.

Services we can provide to you:

One-on-One Consulting Services for communities, not-for-profit agencies and individual property owners.

Consulting, applications, and placements of state and federal tax credits.

Applications for the National Register of Historic Places, and state and local historic listings.

Business and Strategic Planning for communities, historic districts, and individual businesses.

Identification and application for alternative financing including governmental programs, private investments, and other financing programs.

Public presentations and training for community leaders on historic preservation financing, tax credits, economic development strategies and governmental programs.