Tag Archives: Campustown

Bradley University

Bradley to temporarily lease Campustown space

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It turns out the rumors were true: Bradley is going to lease considerable space in Campustown for offices and classrooms (not a bookstore). However, it’s only going to be for a few years while they’re renovating Westlake Hall and constructing the Engineering and Business Convergence Center.

Here’s the full press release:

Bradley to lease two Campustown locations

Peoria, IL (January 13, 2010) – Bradley University will lease two locations in the Campustown Shopping Center to provide faculty office space during upcoming campus construction projects.

Property previously occupied by Blockbuster Video and Sav-A-Lot grocery will be converted to temporary space for educational offices and classrooms during the expansion and renovation of Westlake Hall. That construction is expected to take more than two years.

“We are looking forward to making this move so that progress can continue on restoring historic Westlake Hall,” said Dr. Joan Sattler, dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences. “The temporary inconvenience of this relocation of offices and academic support to Campustown will be well worth it when the University realizes the great benefit of the transformed Westlake.”

The use of the Campustown locations as transitional space for faculty and staff will allow the University to complete the new Alumni Quad and west campus landscaping earlier than planned. The University had previously intended to relocate faculty and staff from the College of Education and Health Sciences to Haussler Hall, but that plan changed once space became available in Campustown. Haussler Hall will be razed after members of the Athletic Department move from there to the new arena later this year.

Bradley will undertake an analysis of space in both Campustown locations to determine how they can best be utilized. The Sav-A-Lot site has 20,100 square feet and Blockbuster totals 6,020 square feet. The grocery closed on January 3 and the video store was shuttered in November. Bradley will have both properties under lease on February 1.

The University expects to continue to use the Campustown locations for transitional space once the Engineering and Business Convergence Center is under construction. No timetable has been established for that project.

The $22 million expansion and renovation of Westlake Hall, one of the University’s original campus buildings, will transform the facility into a modern academic building with 85,000 square feet of academic space, while retaining its classic architectural features. The transformed building will be six times larger than the original and the addition will rise to four stories, rather than three. A glass atrium will allow unique views of the historic clock tower from inside the building.

Westlake Hall will be home to the College of Education and Health Sciences and the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service. The project is one of six in the $150 million Campaign for a Bradley Renaissance. Launched in April 2008, the Renaissance Campaign has amassed more than $125 million to date.

Bradley University, City of Peoria

Campustown Save-a-Lot to be leased to Bradley?

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Here’s what we know for sure: Campustown developer David Joseph already has another tenant lined up to replace Save-a-Lot, and it’s not a grocery store. Other than that, no one will comment for the record. So the question on everyone’s mind is, “who will the new tenant be?”

Over on Billy’s blog, one commenter suggests it will be an Ashley Furniture store. But in WEEK-TV’s news coverage, the manager of the Save-a-Lot tells a different story:

The Save-A-Lot store manager says the building won’t be empty for long, and he is hearing that it could be replaced with a Bradley bookstore.

I have heard Bradley rumored as a possible tenant from several sources — although they don’t all agree on what exactly Bradley will do with it. Possible uses run the gamut from a bookstore, as WEEK suggests, to offices, to an education center. I wrote to Bradley’s public relations rep — former Journal Star editor Shelley Epstein — but my inquiries have not been answered. Read into that what you will he’s out of town and unable to answer me until he gets back Sunday or Monday.

If the rumors are true and Bradley is going to be Campustown’s largest tenant, is that good or bad for the West Bluff? Let’s weigh the pros and cons.

Pros

  • Bradley would be a stabilizing presence in Campustown. Presumably, security would be increased, which will make the area safer.
  • Since Bradley isn’t buying the space, but rather leasing it, the city will continue to collect property tax revenue. And since the Campustown TIF ended this year, the property taxes will go back to the local governments again, and the city’s portion will go into the general fund.
  • More students and/or employees of Bradley going to school and/or working at Campustown may increase business for the remaining retail stores and restaurants.

Cons

  • The city will lose sales tax revenue. If the store is converted to an office or education center, no sales tax revenue at all will be collected. If it’s converted to a new Bradley bookstore, the old bookstore would likely close, so there would be a net loss in commercial square footage, which translates to a net loss in sales tax revenue.
  • A quality commercial anchor would better serve the West Bluff. As Campustown was originally conceived, a grocery store was supposed to provide basic infrastructure to the West Bluff that would be convenient for residents and an attractive amenity for people considering a move into the neighborhood. Thompson’s/Sullivan’s were excellent tenants toward furthering that vision, but Save-a-Lot (being a low-end grocer) sent a different message. While acknowledging that Save-a-Lot was a poor choice for a commercial anchor, the way to improve Campustown would be to bring in a better grocer, not convert retail space to institutional.

From the city’s standpoint, there’s no question that the cons outweigh the pros. They’re going to lose money. Sales tax is the city’s bread and butter. In an effort to keep property taxes low, the city has been piling up sales taxes and fees to cover the rising costs of public works, public safety, and developer incentives.

It’s not as if the city couldn’t absorb the loss of Save-a-Lot’s tax revenue by itself. But this isn’t an isolated incident. There seems to be somewhat of a trend in retail outlets and residential properties being taken over by non-tax-producing entities. For example, the old K’s Merchandise was taken over by OSF. The old Damon’s restaurant in Riverfront Village was taken over by Heartland Partnership. The old Leath Furniture was converted to a church. And huge swaths of land and houses that used to be on the property tax rolls have been taken over by District 150 for various building projects — or, in the case of the Prospect road properties, expensive blunders. In the case of District 150, taxpayers get hit with a double-whammy: we have to pay millions to acquire the properties, plus we lose the revenue they produced. The city can’t sustain such a trend without compensating growth.

From a neighborhood standpoint, the problem with Campustown has always been crime. The place has a reputation for being unsafe, and until that changes, you’ll have a hard time getting tenants to locate there and you’ll have a hard time getting patrons for those tenants. If Bradley’s presence were to reduce crime in Campustown, I think most residents would see it as a net gain for the West Bluff. Conversely, if Save-a-Lot is gone (and, despite its faults, the store was serving the needs of some lower-income West Bluff residents) and there is no increase in safety in return, that will certainly be a net loss for the area.

West Bluff

Save-a-Lot in Campustown is closing

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According to the Journal Star, Save-a-Lot in Campustown on the West Bluff will close its doors January 3. Another tenant is lined up, but the developer won’t disclose who it is — except to say that it won’t be another grocery store. There are some other interesting comments:

“We’re looking for additional sites, and we’re open to other sites in the Peoria area,” [Gerry Kettler, director of consumer affairs for Niemann Foods] said.

I wonder if MidTown Plaza is one of the sites they’re considering. There was a lot of speculation back when Cub Foods closed that it would be replaced with a lower-end grocery store such as Save-a-Lot, since both chains are owned by Niemann Foods.

“From that standpoint we are disappointed Niemann Foods chose not to renew the lease. We’ve had a grocery in that space for almost all of the time Campustown has been there, almost 20 years. Apparently, there isn’t a strong enough need for one now,” [Brad Joseph of D. Joseph & Sons, the Peoria firm that developed and owns Campustown] said.

I couldn’t respond to this any better than frequent commenter Mahkno did in the Journal Star’s comments section:

Considering there has not been a decent well run grocery store there for the last 10 years, it is a bit of leap to conclude there is no need for one. Bradley students do not shop anymore. West Bluff residents of all stripes don’t shop there any more. Mr Joseph has pretty much destroyed the customer base that would support Campustown. The local residents have been sufficiently trained to shop elsewhere. He must not think highly of West Bluff residents by his continued efforts to put low end retailers there.

I’ve been to Save-a-Lot and found it disgusting. It was dirty and unkempt. It had very little inventory given the size of the store. And it had very little variety. I went in there once just to get some soda. They offered one brand: Pepsi. That’s it. The gas station across the parking lot had more variety than that.

I shudder to think what will take its place. We can only hope it won’t be a 20,000-square-foot cash store.