The city of Peoria appears poised to take a big step toward breathing new life into Old Town.
This week, city council will have two items before them officials say will help revitalize the downtown area: a new location of Caldwell County BBQ, as well as Jefferson House, a partnership between Driftwood Coffee and the purveyors of The Churchill, a popular gathering place offering restaurants, retail and event rental that originated in the Roosevelt District of downtown Phoenix.
The two new businesses will be on Jefferson and Washington streets between 83rd and 84th avenues.
As part of the development agreement, the Jefferson House LLC must bring no fewer than three restaurants, one bar, and four retail spaces to the project.
During the past several years, the city has continued to make investments and improvements to reposition downtown for redevelopment by assembling land and refining redevelopment concepts, according to a city document.
Both properties are owned by the city, which will manage and construct the projects, and upon completion will retain ownership of the land and lease the projects to Caldwell and the managing members of the Jefferson House, according to the development agreements.
Driftwood Coffee has been a champion of reinvesting in downtown Peoria and has opened several previous businesses delivering amenities residents are seeking, according to a report. Together, Driftwood and Jefferson House seek to expand their offerings and bring a family-friendly event gathering venue to downtown Peoria, the report said.
The Jefferson House will have a five-year term renewable lease with an additional five years, all within a scale-up rent structure. The Jefferson House will have the option to purchase the building upon commencement of subleasing.
Caldwell County BBQ, which has two locations in Gilbert and one in Queen Creek, will have a 10-year lease with a scale-up rent structure, and also have the option to purchase the building one year after the commencement date at fair market value.
The city has attempted to revitalize Old Town Peoria over a number of years with little success. Most recently, the city is taking a different approach — “If it can happen now, let’s go forward with it.”
That’s the way Deputy City Manager Mike Faust put it at an informational meeting about downtown improvements last year.
“The when is real simple,” he said. “If it can be done now, we have already got it in flight. If it can’t be done now, we know what the barriers are to get it done, and then we’ll go from there.”
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article stated a second location of The Churchill was coming to Old Town Peoria. That has been corrected.
Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman. We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Philip Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.
Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater.
Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.
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