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MAHOMET — Local officials have hired consultants to help assess the possibilities for further development on the village’s southeast side.
The village board approved a $38,500 contract with Edwardsville-based Moran Economic Development on Aug. 26, said Village Administrator Patrick Brown. The firm is tasked with creating a plan for the Prairieview Road and U.S. Route 150 corridors. The project is expected to take about eight months.
Brown wrote in a report to the board that the firm’s work is intended to support “economic development planning” within the village and its 1.5-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction.
“The goal of the Village of Mahomet is an expansion of economic opportunities, attraction/retention of high-quality jobs, and creation of a variety of uses including but not limited to new office, commercial, mixed-use, and light industrial/manufacturing development,” he said.
The corridor plan will include a market study, a “comprehensive redevelopment plan,” and a site readiness report for both corridors. The village expects these deliverables to be “both data-driven and based on community outreach,” Brown said.
Funding for the corridor plan has been budgeted from the village’s tax increment financing and business district revenue.
Brown noted that the village decided to add Prairieview Road to the study area after community members expressed concerns in November 2024 about a developer’s proposal to build a TravelCenters of America facility on vacant land at Clark Street off Prairieview Road, north of Interstate 74.
The plans were ultimately withdrawn.
However, other developments have sprung up along Prairieview Road and U.S. Route 150 recently, including a Culver’s that opened in February, a Taco Bell that is expected to be up and running in November, a Haymaker’s that is still under construction, and a hotel planned by Tabeling Development.
“We are still in the preconstruction process,” Operations Manager Austin Tabeling told The News-Gazette.
He expects that the building’s shell will start to go up “as soon as the weather breaks” in 2026, and the company is targeting a spring 2027 opening for a 71-room Country Inn & Suites by Radisson.
The project was announced in December 2024.
“Larger projects like this usually take a bit longer to plan,” Tabeling said.
