Economic Development

The owner of the former State Farm building in downtown Bloomington is moving ahead with a $68 million redevelopment, including a renovation of the building into 183 residential units, plus ground-floor retail and a destination restaurant on the 13th floor.

Economic development officials in Bloomington-Normal sometimes express frustration at their inability to gain consensus on the importance of addressing a housing shortage. Here's how the skeptics' argument goes.

28 Bloomington-Normal leaders head to Washington, D.C., this week, hoping to secure up to $22.75 million for four area infrastructure projects.

The housing shortage in Bloomington-Normal is one of several factors that, if unchecked, could lead to economic stagnation, according to the agency charged with spurring the economy in the Twin Cities. There are signs it's already sapping growth.

There’s a new financing tool available in McLean County that could help nibble away at the size of the housing shortage in Bloomington Normal. It's called the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Program or C-PACE.

Government efforts to address the Bloomington-Normal housing shortage are a work in progress. Every little effort to make it more attractive to develop helps.

Former Normal Mayor Dick Godfrey has died. As mayor from 1976 to 1985, Godfrey helped the Town of Normal transition from a small college town into an economically diverse community. He was also mayor during the town's infamous firefighters strike.

Plans for a new subdivision with up to 58 single-family townhomes north of Fox Creek Road in southwest Bloomington are moving forward.

A Town of Normal fixture is retiring after four decades in municipal government and the town is re-aligning leadership in the wake of that. Inspections Director Greg Troemel oversaw $3 billion in commercial and residential growth.

Acuity Optical Laboratories, which operates under the name Identity Optical, at 2221 W. College Ave., has notified the state the company plans eliminate 99 jobs starting Dec. 20.