Distillery business is proposing a major expansion in Peoria. Here's what we know so far

Black Band Distillery is looking to undergo a major expansion into a massive building on Southwest Washington Street.

Black Band is proposing to expand its distilling operation into the 157,000-square-foot building at 2400 SW Washington Street that it purchased from Caterpillar, according to an inducement resolution approved by the Peoria City Council on Dec. 12.

The expansion, however, is entirely dependent on Black Band and Peoria working out a redevelopment agreement.

The Peoria City Council granted Black Band an inducement resolution to create a new Tax-Increment Financing district for the business if or when a redevelopment agreement is reached.

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An inducement resolution allows Black Bland to start tracking all its TIF-eligible expenditures during the possible expansion.

The city of Peoria and Black Band will begin negotiating the terms of a new TIF that would likely be voted on in the first quarter of 2024.

Black Band declined to comment at this stage of the process.

Members of the Peoria City Council were very much behind the proposal, however.

"This is an important inducement to note for the public because often Peoria is pegged as a city that is hard to do business with, and I think this shows our willingness to be a little bit creative," City Councilmember Tim Riggenbach said.

Councilmember Andre Allen echoed similar praise of the deal.

"I think it's great that we're using the different tools that we have in our economic development tool kit," Allen said.

Black Band, which is a prominent member of Peoria's Warehouse District operating a restaurant and distillery on Adams Street, is just one piece of an area in Peoria that is growing fast in both the residential and business sectors.

Black Band first opened in 2020.

"Talking about having a destination in the Warehouse District, I think Black Band clearly has become that and we wish you continued success as we move forward with establishing the TIF," Riggenbach said.

The building Black Band purchased from Caterpillar has deep roots in the whiskey-distilling business. It was once owned by Peoria's Hiram Walker, which was once the largest whiskey distiller in the world.

Hiram Walker used the building to manufacture barrels after it was built in 1965.

During the 1960s, Hiram Walker sold 8 million cases of whiskey every year.

But in 1981 the distillery closed, and in 1982 Arthur Daniels Midland, a Decatur agriculture business, purchased the building.

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria distillery proposes major expansion in its operations