Washington School Update

Washington School Update from Chris Setti, Assistant City Manager, Peoria

In July, the City Council approved the sale of District 150 property on Moss Avenue to the Montessori Children’s Home of Peoria. Since then, Montessori has been working with their staff, a design professional and contractors to understand the physical improvements needed to make the property their new home. Unfortunately, their Board has determined that they cannot afford the budget that would be required. While City staff tried to work to identify potential grant opportunities, the gap was too wide. On December 15, 2014, Montessori officially withdrew their offer. We have been in contact with District 150 which is still amendable to our arrangement to market the property. We will be bringing a revised Intergovernmental Agreement to the City Council for approval on January 13, 2015.

Washington School Update

washington-school

Washington School Update

Peoria School District 150 has indicated its intent to sell the former Washington School located at 830 W. Moss Avenue. In the near future the City of Peoria will issue an RFP for prospective buyers.

At a special meeting on December 4 the MBRA membership discussed criteria that could be used to evaluate proposals for future use of the facility.

After a productive discussion, members were asked to indicate their preferred priorities for the criteria. The resulting priority list is given, with the criterion regarded as most important listed first.

• The business/operating plan is of high quality and capitalization is adequate to complete the plan.

• The plan implies permanent occupancy.

• The plan uses the entire facility.

• The impact on traffic is consistent with a residential neighborhood location.

• Landscaping and proposed changes to the building’s exterior are appropriate to the historic district and the surrounding environment.