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Government

Davenport May Help RiverWatch Place

WVIK Staff

Should Davenport help developers remove a downtown eye-sore, replace it with new commercial and office space, and create jobs ? Tonight the city council will consider millions of dollars worth of assistance for RiverWatch Place.

Bruce Berger, director of community planning and economic development, says a group of local residents and companies wants to demolish the old Howard Johnson's hotel at the foot of Government Bridge, and replace it with a six-story, mixed use building. The city would help with tax increment financing.

Credit NAI Ruhl Commercial
After - RiverWatch Place

The maximum rebate would be 5.2 million dollars, spread out over 15 years. 

Berger emphasizes Davenport would still receive higher property tax revenue from the new development, and it would remove some "blight" from downtown.

BBERGER2.mp3
Create construction jobs and bring new office tenants to the QC.

If approved, he thinks demolition could begin soon, with new construction starting in the summer or fall. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.