Downtown Joliet Redevelopment On Display

JOLIET, IL - Around 45 real estate brokers and investors toured downtown Joliet and the Collins Street business district Oct. 16 as part of the city's renewed emphasis of bringing more attractions to both areas.

"Downtown Joliet is experiencing a surge in development driven from private and public investment. Along the tour you'll visit developments such as the new Will County Courthouse currently under construction, the recently opened Metra/Amtrak train station, the new Joliet Junior College Campus, the old Joliet Prison currently being redeveloped, a 40-unit multi-family adaptive reuse project and more!" the city's brochure noted.

Since 2017, the downtown has also seen at least four new restaurants open with one being the MyGrain Brewing Company at the historic Union Station.

Meanwhile, plans to build a Thornton's gas station at the corner of Collins and Jackson Streets are also moving forward. That project is expected help stimulate additional economic development on the city's northeast side.

As far as the downtown, there is still a lot of work ahead, particularly along North Ottawa Street. There are several vacant buildings including the empty Barrett's Hardware Store. Joliet is also trying to market is the AT&T building.

Along North Chicago Street, the Two Rialto Square Building, which is a multi-story professional office building, is now up for sale. At the corner of Cass and Chicago Streets, the former Crabigale's Comedy Club property continues to sit vacant across from the Juliet's restaurant.

The Downtown Joliet Broker Tour was organized by Derek Conley, Joliet's new economic development specialist, who works in City Hall with Steve Jones, the city's economic development director.

Both men led different walking tour groups along Ottawa and Chicago Streets. Later, their groups boarded buses to visit the Collins Street corridor and the famous Old Joliet Prison, which is managed by the Joliet Area Historical Museum. Their tour ended with a visit to the MyGrain Brewery.

Since the broker tour, Conley said he has received nine anonymous survey responses and all nine people answered that they were now more interested in doing business in downtown Joliet after going on the tour.

"We're trying to change the perception and let people know that this is a place open for business," Conley told Joliet Patch. "Things are already going on. Hopefully something from the tour turns into a deal.

"Even if one of them turned into a deal, that would be great. It's something we won't know for months because deals take a while to come together."

Most of the brokers who attended the walking tour came from outside the Joliet, most notably from the Chicago suburbs, Conley said.

"It's definitely something we are going to look to do in the future," he said.

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor