Joliet Country Club: Will It Become Industry Or Houses?

JOLIET, IL — Three real estate brokers may be living in a fantasy world as they try to sell the 146-acre Joliet Country Club as a "commercial" development, according to city of Joliet officials.

A real estate brochure on LoopNet highlights how the Joliet Country Club property is less than 6 miles from the Intermodals for Union Pacific railroad and 12 miles from the BNSF intermodal.

The Joliet Country Club property is less than 2 miles from the full interchange at Interstate 80, the property listing notes.

And there's a local labor pool of more than 180,000 people, according to NAI Hiffman.

Stephen Connolly, Mark Moran and Eric Tresslar are the three employees of NAI Hiffman trying to sell the former Joliet Country Club property, which includes a 28,000-square-foot clubhouse and 2,400-square-foot outdoor swimming pool.

The sale price is subject to the offer, according to LoopNet.

City of Joliet Economic Development Director Derek Conley and new City Manager Jim Capparelli, told Joliet Patch in separate interviews Friday that Joliet will not support any efforts to redevelop the Joliet Country Club for industrial or warehouses.

Besides, the land would need to be rezoned for that type of development, and both city leaders say that Joliet is adamant that it does not want to see the Joliet Country Club redeveloped for commercial purposes.

"I do not contemplate any warehouses or manufacturing," Capparelli said. "There's already a beautiful clubhouse and a pool. The city believes it's an ideal residential area."

Joliet's city manager said the future housing development could involve "affordable housing" and possibly duplexes.

"No apartment buildings," he stressed.

"Right now, it's zoned for residential," Conley said. "We do not believe that the site should be developed as industrial. We don't think that industrial would fit with the surrounding area."

If industry and manufacturing are out the window, what does Joliet's economic development director want to see go here?

"I think single family (housing) would be a good fit," Conley said.