Real Estate Boom Follows Kankakee’s Commercial Growth
business, commercial growth, economic development, prairie walk, real estate, subdivision,
Developer Jeff Stone found inspiration for his Kankakee residential development in the unlikeliest of places – a Chicago Cubs spring training game in Mesa‚ Ariz.
While there‚ Stone ran into a fellow Kankakeean‚ and after a few minutes‚ the conversation turned to their mutual affection for their native city.
“They didn’t know me from Adam‚ and they immediately told me how they and their neighbors never want to move out of Kankakee because of the excellent school system. They were such fans of the city. It was then that I knew our residential development project was the right move at the right time‚” says Stone‚ president of Prairie Walk at RiverStone‚ the first new residential subdivision to be built in the city in the past 30 years.
Located in the southern portion of Kankakee along I-57 at Exit 308‚ Prairie Walk will eventually cover nearly 60 acres and‚ when complete‚ will feature 70 single-family homes‚ 64 townhomes‚ 112 condos and 30 duplexes. Prairie Walk is part of RiverStone‚ a 1‚000-acre mixed use development anchored by the Kankakee Airport and Kankakee Community College‚ which opened a new 70‚000-square-foot Work Force Development Center in 2004.
“What RiverStone brings to Kankakee is its first totally planned community. Our market mix will also bring needed amenities to an area that has never had retail development‚” says Connie Licon‚ vice president of marketing and public relations for RiverStone.
Also dotting the RiverStone land scape is a new Hilton Garden Inn and Riverstone Conference Center as well as Splash Valley Aquatic Park‚ an indoor ice hockey arena and the National City softball fields. The latest addition to RiverStone is a new Wal-Mart Super center‚ which broke ground in July 2006 and is expected to generate more than $700‚000 in tax revenues annually for Kankakee.
“The time has finally come for us. All of the infrastructure that taxpayers invested in during the past few decades is in place‚ and the land is available‚” says Bill Kendziorek‚ a broker for Golden West Real Estate and past president of the Kankakee Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re ready and poised for the growth. I’ve been in commercial and industrial development for about 35 years‚ and I can honestly say that now is the most exciting time to be living and working in Kankakee.”
According to Kankakee’s mayor‚ Don Green‚ developments such as RiverStone and Prairie Walk‚ as well as other new commercial and residential projects on the north and west sides of town‚ demonstrate the city’s dedication to revitalization‚ economic growth and the reawakening of its potential in the near and extended future.
“I’m looking for growth to escalate dramatically over the next 10 years because of the all of these exciting new projects. There’s no doubt about the possibilities here‚” says Green.
Story by Valerie B. Shead
Photo by Brian McCord
