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At the Junction

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City's oldest shopping destination has some of its most modern flair

Its very first enterprise may be gone, but Junction City shopping center is doing as well as it ever has and boasts some of Peoria's newest retail.

And while it has grown by about 30,000 square feet in the past four years, Junction Ventures LLC owners Alexis and Elizabeth Khazzam aren't content to stay with what is there, said Chuck Hollis, CEO of Junction City.

"We're still planning and deciding what will be best on some of the property here, including that acreage south of 309 and to the east of the center. And the corner property (of Knoxville and Prospect) has had some interest but we and our co-developers (D. Joseph & Associates) are being patient. We are committed to putting just the right tenant there to fit in well with the great things we already have going," Hollis said.

That corner held Vonachen's Junction, later called Vonachen's Old Place, and was co-founded by Pete Vonachen and Pauline Jacquin in 1956. Within two years the rest of the shopping center was being built in a style and color to evoke the feeling of a turn-of-the-century Main Street.

Since the Khazzams acquired it in January 2006 from the Siegrist family the original shopping center has undergone a multi-million dollar makeover, with new tenants who were already successful elsewhere and relocated.

The Khazzams then made a trade with the state of Illinois on some property so they could get their hands on the Illinois Department of Transportation warehouse next door. The idea was to convert that warehouse into usable retail space, something Hollis said met with skepticism.

"People said, 'it can't be done, it can't be done.' Well look at it now. It got done," he said, noting that all but one 1,300 square-foot space is leased with the restaurant 309 and Farrell's eXtreme Body Shaping fitness center being the largest of the tenants.

Almost all of Junction City's tenants are local, in fact. Only Farrell's eXtreme, the Benjamin F. Edwards brokerage office and Sweet CeCe's are not locally based and the latter has a local franchisee.

They succeed at Junction City because of the location along one of the city's busiest roads on Knoxville Avenue and, Hollis said, because of the support they get from Junction Ventures. "Location and support are the keys to the success because we are very involved with the success of our tenants," he said.

"Another thing to consider, though, is that the tenants are good business people. They understand the dynamics of this area. They know the economic conditions better than national retailers and they can move on it when the time is right instead of waiting for somebody else to make the decision. That's why they succeed even when they don't have the national platform or corporate backing of the national retailers," Hollis said.

Junction City is more than 90 percent leased, with some office space in the Town Hall just south of the main shopping center still open. "That's a nice number to have, especially considering our make-up is almost all local. That tells me the local economy is doing ok," he added.

Hollis said it is significant that the Khazzams took on the warehouse space and the Town Hall space and did renovations and looked for tenants during the worst part of the last recession. "Our business plan, which includes a fair price for good real estate and the support we give our tenants, is working."

Hollis said people tend to forget that the main part of the shopping center was in need of renovations and that other parts of the property were in bad shape, including the now-vacant land that held the Grandview Hotel.

"We accomplished a lot of things people didn't think we could do and Junction Ventures did it without public money. This is a private investment, 100 percent, which we think is worth noting," he said.

Future growth is planned, as Hollis mentioned before. But other than to say a boutique hotel is still being considered where the Grandview once stood, he won't discuss specifics.

Petersen Health Care plans to build a senior living center on the eastern edge of the Junction City property is on hold, but Hollis said he couldn't comment beyond that.

Junction City has also become home to more events the last few years, including the Junction City Holiday Walk, the sixth annual one scheduled for Friday, Nov. 4 with festivities planned from 4 to 9 p.m.

Junction City Shopping Center
5901 N. Prospect Road, Peoria
Owners: Junction Ventures LLC
Retailers include:
• Bare Belly Boutique
• Pooch Couture
• Random Clothier
• Asia Grill
• Butcher Block Steakhouse & Grill
• Cyd's Gourmet Kitchen
• Tavern on Prospect
• Evolution Wine & Spirits
• The Bronze Frog
• Design Plus
• LS Home
• Exhibit A Gallery
• Diva Studio
• Sweet CeCe's
• Belle Mie
• Stork Snapshots
For more information:
www.newjunctioncity.com
or call (309) 740-0808

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