By Philip Haldiman | Your Valley
The portion of Grand Avenue that runs through south Peoria has been a hard nut to crack in the revitalization of the Old Town area.
For years, the building that housed the former Smitty’s at 85th Avenue sat vacant and blighted. Hope was renewed in 2020 when the building was demolished and developer SJ Acquisitions scooped up the property with a plan for a mixed-use commercial project called Grand Commons that could have been a destination for residents throughout Peoria.
A year later, SJ Acquisitions shifted gears and changed the project to exclusively multifamily due to, what the developer says, is a lack of interest from the development community.
