Beck buys property on southeast corner of 30th and Broadway, plans to demolish former Chinese restaurant

QUINCY — Trevor Beck has often wondered about the possibilities at the southeast corner of 30^th and Broadway while driving to work at Town and Country Bank Midwest.

“I drive by that corner every day, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat at that corner, looked at it and thought to myself, ‘What could that corner be someday for somebody?’” he said.

Now Beck will find out.

Beck is the agent and president of Beck Properties, Inc., of Loraine, which bought the property at 3000 Broadway for $190,000 from Ruth and Connie Liu of Quincy on Dec. 9, according to property tax documents filed in the Adams County Recorder’s Office.

Beck plans to demolish the building, which sits on a 13,600-foot lot. He also is in negotiations with Spencer Schelp, agent for Quincy 330 LLC, which bought the neighboring former Dollar General building at 330 N. 30th in May. Beck expects to close on that property, a 6,480 square foot lot with 25 parking spots, no later than February.

“The Dollar General building, in my opinion, is kind of a must-have to make the corner be anything,” Beck said. “Whether you flatten that building or fix it up, you have to have that building.”

Beck said he learned about the availability of the 3000 Broadway through a public listing in October.

“My dad is a realtor, so I called him and said, ‘Hey, let’s make an offer on that property,’” Beck said.

He was prepared to offer the asking price, but he also asked for a due diligence period to check for clearances by the Environmental Protection Association. Before the building at 3000 Broadway was home to a Chinese restaurant, it served as a gas station.

“There’s been rumors when that property was horrible (for the EPA),” Beck said. “I had some time to check the background to make sure there were no issues, which there’s not. There were three fuel tanks removed in 1997, and (the property) got an EPA clearance in 1998. There are no issues with environmental things.”

Beck says he has plenty of ideas of what could be built on the corner.

“My vision would ideally be to put up something like what Tom Marx is building across the street,” he said. 

A 6,000 square foot lot for retail space for three businesses is being built on the northeast corner of 30^th and Broadway. Chuck Bevelheimer, director of planning and development, said after a Quincy City Council meeting in October that one of the three businesses will be a Verizon cellphone store. He also said Marx is converting former County Market grocery store, just north of the northeast corner of 30^th and Broadway, into a Planet Fitness.

“I really don’t have any definite plans,” Beck said. “I just knew that I felt like I was the guy to get creative with it. Let’s call it that. Something will go there. It’s just kind of an investment for me knowing that there’s not a property like 30^th and Broadway that comes along every day. Obviously, the visibility is well-known, and the corner is what it is. It’s just tough to find that kind of exposure in Quincy. 

“I’m kind of a person who likes a challenge or a task, and this is something that intrigued me. So here we go. We’ll see. I just felt like it was a good move for the future.”

Herald-Whig archives show the restaurant celebrated its grand opening on Dec. 13, 1973, as the American Brazilian Chinese (ABC) Inn. Charles Lin, who was joined in the venture with several others, previously had operated the Nan Pei Ho restaurant in the Legion Town and Country Shopping Center since July of 1973.

The restaurant’s name was later changed to the China Inn Restaurant. A fire on March 6, 1984, damaged the building that was owned by James Liu, according to a Herald-Whig report. The kitchen sustained fire and smoke damage because of grease fire that spread when employees threw water on it, causing flames to spread.