La Salle-Peru and Heritage Harbor, Ottawa (Peoria, Des Plaines: real estate market, lease, hotel)

[mikeg453]

I may be relocating to the La Salle Peru area for a job and was searching for real estate. I am looking for a newer home since I have already done the money pit drill with a 40 year old home. Checking online real estate the only new construction I found was in Heritage Harbor. I understand that it is a marina resort but I am more interested in the community and housing rather than the boating amenities.

Anyone have any information about HH or the real estate market in the La Salle-Peru and Ottawa area?

[linicx]

Have you ever lived in a marina? This harbor community is being built as a tourist destination with a hotel and conference rooms. Heritage Harbor: A Waterfront Community in Ottawa, Illinois

There are three power boat marinas in central Illinois. Deweiller near Chillicothe, East Peoria and Havana. I don't believe there is another marina before St.Louis. Before you buy a little power boat, do not be lulled by slick advertising, The Illinois River is a deep channel shipping lane. Anyone who has no idea what this means, is the barges leave a wake as wide as the river for five miles. You must have a powerful motor to avoid capsizing and other problems. The barges do not have brakes. You do not troll for fish in the main channel.

I lived at a marina for a number of years. It is a pain if you seek peace and personal space. Marina's bring the weekender who has the yearly lease, the curious, the destination seekers and constant traffic. .

When I lived near L-P a number of years ago, I lives in Marseilles and loved it. Just my .02 cents.

[mikeg453]

Originally Posted by linicx

Have you ever lived in a marina? This harbor community is being built as a tourist destination with a hotel and conference rooms. Heritage Harbor: A Waterfront Community in Ottawa, Illinois

There are three power boat marinas in central Illinois. Deweiller near Chillicothe, East Peoria and Havana. I don't believe there is another marina before St.Louis. Before you buy a little power boat, do not be lulled by slick advertising, The Illinois River is a deep channel shipping lane. Anyone who has no idea what this means, is the barges leave a wake as wide as the river for five miles. You must have a powerful motor to avoid capsizing and other problems. The barges do not have brakes. You do not troll for fish in the main channel.

I lived at a marina for a number of years. It is a pain if you seek peace and personal space. Marina's bring the weekender who has the yearly lease, the curious, the destination seekers and constant traffic. .

When I lived near L-P a number of years ago, I lives in Marseilles and loved it. Just my .02 cents.

Thanks for the input.

I visited the development last week and there is only about 8-9 houses completed. Its very nice development but I see what you are saying. I do not own a boat but like being near water. Prices are pretty high so I will have just wait and see if anything else is out there. I am looking anywhere from Marseilles to Oglesby near the Illinois river but on ground high enough not to flood.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by linicx

Have you ever lived in a marina? This harbor community is being built as a tourist destination with a hotel and conference rooms. Heritage Harbor: A Waterfront Community in Ottawa, Illinois

There are three power boat marinas in central Illinois. Deweiller near Chillicothe, East Peoria and Havana. I don't believe there is another marina before St.Louis. Before you buy a little power boat, do not be lulled by slick advertising, The Illinois River is a deep channel shipping lane. Anyone who has no idea what this means, is the barges leave a wake as wide as the river for five miles. You must have a powerful motor to avoid capsizing and other problems. The barges do not have brakes. You do not troll for fish in the main channel.

I lived at a marina for a number of years. It is a pain if you seek peace and personal space. Marina's bring the weekender who has the yearly lease, the curious, the destination seekers and constant traffic. .

When I lived near L-P a number of years ago, I lives in Marseilles and loved it. Just my .02 cents.

This is true...nobody fishes in the main channel of the Illinois River, and most people don't fish from boats in the river at all....just from the shore around Starved Rock, or in the smaller tributaries that feed into the river, or in backwaters.

Honestly, though, I grew up boating on the river, mostly between Starved Rock and Spring Valley, and we never had a large or especially powerful boat...barge wakes were never a problem. Yes, they exist, but no, they're not going to capsize your motorboat unless you're doing something wrong. We never especially enjoyed barge wakes when we were tubing, but the boat never came anything close to capsizing...you just roll over the wake. But, as the OP mentioned, he's not especially interested in boating culture.

To the OP, I grew up in the vicinity of the Illinois Valley, and most of my immediate relatives live there to this day, but I've never been a homeowner there, so I wish I had more to help you with on that end of things. I know that there are a couple of subdivisions in Peru that are currently building and are made up of primarily new construction homes...portions that were agricultural until recent years...but I don't know much about them, since we're primarily vintage home buffs in my family.

[linicx]

Mikeg453

What is true about the Illinois River at Starved Rock is not necessarily true at Peoria Lake where the river is one mile wide and it is not unusual for boaters who have not been exposed to barge wake to get into trouble. It is also not unusual for experienced boaters to get into trouble on Peoria Lake. It happened recently to a captain with 35-years experience on the Illinois River. He had had a wedding party aboard and a dead motor. Even in a 'no wake' zone where barges are still moving at under 5mph., accidents happen.

What people do not understand is each steel *barge car* can carry 80,000 pounds - it is equal in weight to a fully loaded semi-trailer and cab. Tugs can push 12-16 cars, although not all do. The rules for commercial pilots traversing deep channel waters are very stringent as nature is unpredictable and so are small boats. What does one expect from a pilot boat pushing 400 tons? The pilot was in the process of slowing and bring the barge to idle when the hapless, powerless party boat drifted into the path of the barge. It sunk, but nog before all the individuals on board were rescued.

Peoria Lake is a nightmare for commercial pilots. In the summer it is filled with sailboats and small water craft. A sailboat has the same problem if the motor is inoperable and it does not catch a wind. A sailboat, unlike a powerboat, is built to return to an upright position as it resurfaces. However, with a broken hull the sailboat has the same problem as any other small water craft. Even ocean rated craft is not a match for a barge on the great rivers or the Great Lakes. The difference is width. The Great Lakes are much wider and therefore the barges have more room to maneuver to avoid an accident. When the pilot boat travels far enough north it leaves the Illinois River and enters the Des Plaines River.

In my opinion after water watching water craft on the Illinois and talking to the owners and employees, I have concluded the only small water craft that is safe on the Illinois River is the canoe. It can travel is the most shallow waters. A Canadian traveler put his canoe in a Starved Rock and paddled to St. Louis. He was our guest for several hours during one of his layovers. . .

[TabulaRasa]

Can't really speak to Peoria Lake, as I've never boated on that section of the river, but my understanding was that the OP was looking to move to the portion of the Illinois river valley in the relative vicinity of Starved Rock.

[mikeg453]

Thanks for all the information that everyone has provided. After what was explained by linicx that navigating the Illinois River as leisure boater is a bit risky, I do not see myself even making an attempt at undertaking that activity. Also, after seeing some of the photos of the 2008 flood, maybe I should start looking for property on higher ground over looking the river. TabulaRasa, you are correct in that I am looking in the Starved Rock area. I am looking as far west as LaSalle-Peru and on the east to Marseilles.

[linicx]

I live in a marina on a very large lake. When if flooded it was a 1200 mile mess the owners had the privilege of cleaning up as their property lines extended past the shore line. I never owned property on the Illinois River or anywhere near it because of the flooding.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by mikeg453

Thanks for all the information that everyone has provided. After what was explained by linicx that navigating the Illinois River as leisure boater is a bit risky, I do not see myself even making an attempt at undertaking that activity. Also, after seeing some of the photos of the 2008 flood, maybe I should start looking for property on higher ground over looking the river. TabulaRasa, you are correct in that I am looking in the Starved Rock area. I am looking as far west as LaSalle-Peru and on the east to Marseilles.

It's not really risky in the area you are looking...you'll see plenty of recreational boaters. It may or may not be your cup of tea (I'm not much of recreational boater, myself, although I grew up with a father who was and was along for the ride as a kid), but you'll find that many in the area do it regularly and safely.

In the area you're looking, you shouldn't have a problem finding property high enough that it's out of the flood plain. L-P for sure is predominantly built on small bluffs above the river and expands northward far from the reach of potential floodwaters. I'm not nearly as familiar with Marseilles, or anywhere upriver from the dam at Starved Rock, though, so I can't speak to that.