We applaud The Chamber, The Springfield Project and the Economic Growth Corporation of Rock Island for the soon-to-come “Centre @ 501”, which will house the Chamber and apartments downtown at 5th and Capitol Avenue.
An excerpt from the SJ-R:
“Hembrough said project developers used “all sorts of tools to make this thing work,” including historic tax credits, new market tax credits, state donation tax credits, $985,000 in tax increment financing from the city of Springfield and taking on about $4.4 million in borrowing.”
Economic Growth Corporation, after purchasing the property for $150,000 last year, is acting as developer and property manager. O’Shea Builders is the general contractor and Evan Lloyd Architects serves as architect.
Though it has not always been easy, Hembrough said he hopes the development will be “proof of concept.”
“With the right partners, people and entities involved, something like this can get done in Springfield and it can be successful,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll be a catalyst to move other ones forward.”