PEORIA — A curveball was thrown by defense attorneys representing the owner of Downtown Peoria’s shuttered Riverview Plaza building in Peoria County Court on Friday.
Attorneys representing MJ Illinois and Dr. Paul Kim, the owner of the building, filed a series of last-minute motions on Friday, marking yet more sudden changes in a feud that has been playing out between the city of Peoria and the company for the better part of two years. Kim attended the hearing in person for the first time on Friday.
Defense attorneys filed a request for a temporary restraining order against the city, arguing that Peoria’s requested imposition of more than $2 million in fines against Kim would place a harmful burden on their client. Peoria County Judge Alicia Washington denied that request.
However, Friday’s scheduled hearing, which was supposed to be an hourslong evidentiary hearing, was instead cut short so the court could take more time to review another motion filed by the defense. After having their motion for a temporary restraining order denied, attorneys for MJ Illinois then filed a motion to move the case to the Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield, arguing Peoria County no longer had jurisdiction.
Washington delayed Friday’s hearing to Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. to take more time to review this motion.
Friday’s surprise motion is yet another delay in a case that has been riddled with continuances and unfilled agreements over the past two and a half years while the 20-story high-rise remains closed and in a state of disrepair.
The city of Peoria has asked the court to impose more than $2 million in fines against MJ Illinois because, as the city argues, it has not held up its end of a deal that was struck in court in June 2025 to make repairs to the building’s fire suppression and fire alarm systems.
In court last month the city presented evidence that showed that there were people living in the basement of the building in office spaces that had been crudely converted into living quarters, despite the fact that no one was supposed to be in the building at all.
The building has been closed since February 2024 when a water main break rendered the fire suppression and alarm system inoperable. Since then, city inspectors have detailed a host of other issues that need to be repaired in the building including electrical systems and HVAC.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: New delays in legal fight over shuttered Downtown Peoria high rise
Reporting by JJ Bullock, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By JJ Bullock, Peoria Journal Star | USA TODAY Network
