Downtown Joliet: Future Home Of Innovation Campus?

JOLIET, IL - July will be a pivotal month for a Colorado-based company interested in putting an innovation campus in downtown Joliet. For the past year, Joliet has had in preliminary discussions with Innovation Pavilion, a business incubation firm with lofty goals of rapid expansion across the U.S. According to city officials, Innovation Pavilion wants to build a campus that encompasses a mix of technology companies, corporate suites, housing geared toward Millennials, a modern library, retail outlets and a school for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math students.

Last October, The Denver Post published a lengthy article about Innovation Pavilion, noting how the company was involved in discussions with about 20 other cities across the country. Besides its main site in the Denver suburb of Centennial, population 109,000, Innovation Pavilion has already publicized plans to open additional campuses in Parker, CO and Olathe, KS, a Kansas City suburb.

"Key to the project is that the local government must support it and be involved, which makes it easier to build such a community on a city block — or four," The Denver Post reported.

Because Joliet has a number of city-owned lots available throughout the downtown business district, the city sees itself as being in a favorable position to be on the short list of expansion sites for Innovation Pavilion.

"Following the most recent visit in June, the Innovation Pavilion began focusing upon two city-owned sites as a potential location," Jones said.

One proposal calls for a 201,000-square-foot campus along the Des Plaines River while the second option calls for a campus encompassing about 116,000-square-feet of space in the vicinity of the historic Union Station. Both sites under consideration are owned by Joliet.

According to Joliet Economic Development Director Steve Jones, tentative plans call for the major downtown redevelopment project to go before Joliet's Economic Development Committee at its July 13 meeting. The City Council would hear a presentation on the project on July 17 with a final vote taking place the next day, July 18.

The proposed riverfront campus could go north of the Harrah's Hotel and Casino, near Cass and Joliet Streets. The other possible site - called the Washington Street campus - is south of the Union Station, within walking distance of Joliet Central High School.

At this stage, there appears to be strong mutual interest to bring Innovation Pavilion to downtown Joliet. Joliet officials made a trip to Centennial, CO last year to learn more about Innovation Pavilion's existing campus and to talk about where such a campus could go in Joliet. Likewise, the company posted a write-up on its website, summarizing its initial meeting from last September with Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and Jones.

"Innovation Pavilion reached out to Joliet ... wanting to share its vision of collaboration campuses that bring together different novel practices that can transform the way people work, learn and live," the company posted on its website last year.

Architectural renderings, design map, via City of Joliet