John Bays Works His Magic In Joliet's Downtown Again

JOLIET, IL — Even though downtown Joliet has been in the midst of a resurgence in recent years, there are still a number of vacant commercial properties taking up space. One such structure was the Premier Building near the Jackson Street Bridge. The brick facade along Jackson Street has been empty for several years now. The property looked blighted. Then, along came Joliet commercial investor John Bays.

In late July, John Bays Investments acquired the property. The next morning, Bays and his crews were hard at work. They put up new signage. They redid all the landscaping. They improved the parking lot. Lighting was fixed and enhanced.

Now, the property is ready for lease.

In addition to owning several buildings downtown, Bays also owns a number of commercial properties on Joliet's west side. One of his best known properties is near Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Bays owns the Tundra Lodge Resort and Conference Center.

During a phone interview last week from Green Bay, Bays told Joliet Patch he still wants to make a couple more noteworthy improvements to the Premier Building before he commits to a lease with a prospective tenant.

Bays said he wants to improve the windows around the building and he may redo the brick facade around the perimeter.

Bays told Joliet Patch he already has several prospective tenants for the Premier Building property.

"I've definitely had a lot of interest in the building," Bays told Patch last week.

In February, Patch ran an article headlined, "Premier Building: Will It Sell?"

At the time of the article, the 40,000-square-foot property overlooking the Des Plaines River in downtown Joliet was listed at $849,000.

Back in the day, the downtown property was known around Joliet as being the old Public Service Commonwealth Edison building.