The head of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council says addressing residential needs is one key piece to realizing business growth in Bloomington.
“It’s just getting more supply, and you do have supply coming in the pipeline,” said Hoban, pointing specifically to planned developments at the former State Farm building downtown and the former Verizon site on Empire Street among the projects in the works.
Hoban gave the first of three presentations at Tuesday’s hour-long Committee of the Whole meeting, followed by an update from Home Sweet Home Ministries CEO Matt Burgess on The Bridge non-congregate shelter village along Oakland Avenue.
Burgess said nearly a month after opening, The Bridge was at 84% occupancy as of Tuesday.
“Every single person that we have moved into The Bridge is somebody who had previously been staying outside, either at the encampment in the gravel pits, the encampment off of Adelaide [Street], or elsewhere in town,” said Burgess.
“We have encountered people all across the community through our street outreach work, so we stayed true to our purpose in building The Bridge — to move people inside.”
The final presentation of the night by City Manager Jeff Jurgens highlighted the city’s accomplishments in 2025, with a video touting “visible progress” toward building a stronger future.
EDC strategic plan update
Hoban said Bloomington’s annual $100,000 investment in the EDC has generated $455 million in added revenue over the past six years.
“For every dollar you give us, that’s $757 returned,” he said. “That’s not as high as Normal’s because there’s been a lot more development up there. However, $1 to $757 is not a bad return. I would take that any day.”
He said a major key to attracting new business is having the proper infrastructure in the right places.
“It’s people, it’s power, and it’s place. That is the bottom of the pyramid, that is the foundation,” said Hoban. “You have to have the infrastructure, have to have the available real estate, a good place to live, and you’ve got to have people. If you don’t have that, you’re not doing deals.”
Hoban pointed to a supply-and-demand issue as the major factor in Bloomington’s housing crisis, but credited the council for taking steps to address “the missing middle” needs.
“You guys are taking the right steps in order to keep the projects that we have on track,” he said. “I just wish we could speed it up a little.”
The Bridge draws attention
Burgess said representatives of Peoria, Pekin, Pontiac and Danville and other Illinois municipalities either have or will tour The Bridge to see how it operates.
“That’s the impact that we are having to inspire other communities to think creatively about addressing homelessness that they’re dealing with in their own communities,” he said.
Burgess said they did experience some hiccups and delays at the start that have lingered as they work to complete finishing touches and have the site fully constructed.
“We thought we had everything functional to start off, but when we turned all of the heaters on in the cabins, we had a couple of heaters that didn’t work. They would just blow cold air,” he said, adding they’ve also had a couple issues with some door handles and they’re still waiting for a security gate for the front of the fence.
Responding to a question from Mayor Dan Brady, Burgess said they don’t want to put a limit on how long people can stay at The Bridge, noting the name of the facility holds a symbolic meaning.
“Individual by individual, the bridge that they have to cross to get to permanent housing varies in length, and so we have no arbitrary limit on how long of a bridge people get,” he said. “We don’t want to get people out to the middle of the chasm that they’re experiencing. and then say, ‘Well, that’s long enough,’ and then they have to step off without the supports.”
Several council members complimented Burgess on what The Bridge has been able to do for the unsheltered population.
“This is in my ward, so I get asked about it a lot, and because of the stigma that surrounds it, some people may not be thrilled that we have this,” said Cody Hendricks.
“Sure, I would love that everywhere in America we wouldn’t need this, but I am happy that we as a community — especially your team and the larger community — have stepped up in such a way.”
