John Bays To Buy Crabigale's From Joliet, Here's What He'll Do

JOLIET, IL — Now that John Bays has finished redeveloping the Two Rialto Square Building, Joliet's most successful commercial real estate investor said he plans to turn his attention to another downtown property that has fallen on hard times in recent years.

Last week, Bays told Joliet Patch's editor about his plans to purchase the Crabigale's Comedy Club building at the busy downtown intersection of Cass and North Chicago streets. The city of Joliet now owns the property; despite showing the building to a number of prospective buyers in recent years, nothing ever materialized.

With downtown Joliet in the midst of its most successful renaissance in decades, Bays believes the old Crabigale's property can become his next major accomplishment in Joliet.

For the past three-plus years, Bays focused on the Two Rialto Square Building, next to the Rialto Square Theatre. He turned the top two floors into 20 luxury apartments and added several key tenants throughout the building, including the Joliet Chamber of Commerce and the Will County Regional Superintendent of Schools, as well as several law firms and insurance companies.

On March 30, Bays celebrated the grand opening of what many people are saying is Will County's finest sit-down restaurant, CUT 158 Chophouse, owned by Bill Dimitroulas.

Last spring, Dimitroulas also acquired the Juliet's Tavern, which is directly across the street from the empty Crabigale's. Now, Juliet's has an American menu. For years, under the previous ownership, it focused on Italian cuisine.

Bays told Joliet Patch that he will still need the Joliet City Council to approve the sale of the Crabigale's building. When Patch asked him last week about the likelihood of acquiring Crabigale's, Bays replied, "I would say it's close to 100 percent."

Bays said he wants to convert the second and third floors of Crabigale's into more high-end apartment units for Joliet's working professionals. He envisions adding two apartments to the second floor and three more on the third level, for five apartment units in total.

Bays said he's already had three people approach him with proposals to reopen the main level of Crabigale's.

One person wants to open an Italian restaurant, another wants to bring a pizza place to downtown Joliet, and the third person wants to bring the comedy club concept back to Joliet.

As it stands, the building has been sitting vacant for years — and that's not good for anybody, especially the city of Joliet, Bays said. He said the current administration, led by City Manager Jim Capparelli, is eager to see Crabigale's redeveloped.

"It's something that they've got to do soon with because it's been deteriorating on the outside, and it's been sitting vacant for several years," Bays told Joliet Patch. "I will make it full, and I will invest in it. I will do it."

Bays said he has not decided yet whether he will make it into a pizza place, an Italian restaurant, or try to return it to its former glory as a comedy club.

Related Patch Coverage: John Bays Unveils Luxury Living In Downtown Joliet