Goodbye Bakers Square, Hello Brand New Starbucks Restaurant, Joliet

JOLIET, IL — The Joliet City Council will meet on Tuesday night to discuss approving a drive-thru permit for a brand new Starbucks coffeehouse that would be built after the abandoned Bakers Square restaurant is bulldozed, and the rubble is taken away.

"Sometimes you wait long enough the right thing comes along and a new Starbucks is a good fit for that spot on Jefferson," Joliet Mayor Terry D'Arcy informed Joliet Patch on Friday.

Next month would have marked the five-year anniversary of the Joliet Bakers Square restaurant being permanently closed. Joliet Patch has reported over the years that the property had become a magnet for vagrants to frequent the property. That stopped more than a year ago when a chain-link fence was erected around the perimeter of the property.

The new Starbucks is proposed at 2211 W. Jefferson St. Now, you might say, isn't there a Starbucks just up the street at the Menards shopping center? Yes, there is, but some people who love Starbucks would not be opposed to having a Starbucks on every block of their city.

According to a City Council memo, on Jan. 22, Joliet's Department of Public Works received a request for a drive-thru at a proposed Starbucks Restaurant at 2211 W. Jefferson St.

The proposed development involves the demolition of the former Bakers Square building and the construction of a new 2,200-square-foot building, complete with a drive-thru. The project also includes enhanced landscaping, more efficient site lighting, and improved pedestrian routing to ensure safer on-site access and usage, the document noted.