At the Peoria City Council meeting April 4, the board celebrated the approvals of Caldwell County BBQ and the Jefferson House by launching confetti into the city hall chamber.
Officials say the approvals will be important in revitalizing the downtown area.
The council unanimously approved the respective development agreements for a new location of Caldwell County BBQ, which has two other Valley locations, as well as Jefferson House, a partnership between Peoria-based Driftwood Coffee and the purveyors of The Churchill, a popular gathering place offering restaurants, retail and event rental that originated in the historic Roosevelt Row of downtown Phoenix.
Deputy City Manager Mike Faust said this is only the beginning for downtown Peoria.
“This is phase one for us,” he said. “The things that are in flight now, these are the things that we are bringing to fruition. We are not done. The key thing is to stay connected and congruent with the vision that is cast by council. Stay connected to the community. Listen well and then deliver projects that people are excited about, because we think this will shift us from what used to be to what will be.”
Officials said the Jefferson House will be modeled after the Churchill, with a covered internal communal area of about 7,000 square-feet and 900 square-feet of event space, flanked with shipping containers that are essentially retrofitted into retail space.
The Peoria version is planned to be about 30% larger than the Phoenix version.
It is not yet know when groundbreaking will occur, but the approvals of the development agreements have given the city the go-ahead to launch the design. As site plans are developed, a groundbreaking date will become clearer, officials said.
Councilmember Jennifer Crawford, who represents the downtown area, thanked all those who worked on the projects, and said their work is a testament to their commitment to the community.
“Most importantly, not to forget our working group, the amount of time that some of these individuals put into the vision of our downtown is incredible, and at one point, I counted over 150 cumulative years of residency in our downtown area. I think that speaks a lot to their knowledge of the community and what the community wants,” Crawford said.
Peoria resident Eva Osuna is one of those committee members.
“This shows we can have differences, but we came together, and we killed it,” Osuna said.
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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