Exclusive: John Bays Buys Downtown's Empty Premier Building

JOLIET, IL — It looked like tornado swept through the northern edge of downtown Joliet on Tuesday and only ravaged the Premier Building property along Jackson Street. But that's not what happened. At 5 p.m. Monday, John Bays bought the empty 40,000-square-foot professional office building that has sat empty the past several years. On Tuesday, Bays joined a dozen of his workers for Bays Investments, toiling in the hot sun to clean up the property.

There were Bobcats, tree shredders and bucket trucks out in full force. By the end of the week, Bays assured Joliet Patch, people around Joliet will not recognize the exterior. The Premier Building was overgrown with weeds and trees and two large parking lots in the front and back were in disrepair.

The empty commercial property was owned by a private investment firm and Caton Commercial was the real estate broker.

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During an interview at the site Tuesday, Bays said he remains a big proponent of Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and the city's ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown Joliet, so that's why he bought the vacant Premier Building. He said that because the property is well-known around Joliet, he will keep the original name, but plans to call it the Bays Premier Building.

Bays told Joliet Patch he plans to sink about $4 million to $5 million into the property.

Bays said he now owns about 375,000 square feet of commercial space in downtown Joliet and more than 1 million-square-feet of commercial property overall. He has another huge downtown project already taking place, a massive renovation of the Two Rialto Square property along North Chicago Street, next to the Rialto Square Theatre.

Bays has informed the city the ongoing Two Rialto Square project will cost him about $5.3 million.

As far as the Premier Building, "It will definitely be commercial," Bays told Patch Tuesday. "It's going to be beautiful. It's going to be a first-class (development) that's for sure, and I will have this building all filled up."

City economic development specialist Derek Conley told Patch on Tuesday afternoon that he literally just learned that Bays bought the property. He was thrilled to learn the Bays Investment crews were already busy rehabilitating the site.

"John Bays is a proven downtown developer so we're very happy he picked up the Premier Building," Conley said. "We are looking forward to the outside beautification and putting some more employees in there."

The Premier Building is directly across the street from the Olde Keg pizzeria, which is now Catrinas Mex.