Liquid Therapy Bar And Restaurant Along Route 6: Joliet City Council To Vote On Redevelopment Project

JOLIET, IL — The Liquid Therapy Bar and Restaurant has remained vacant for the past five years, but the property is coming back to life in 2026 in a much different way. At Monday and Tuesday's Joliet City Council meetings, the city's elected officials will be asked to approve a special use permit to allow for a truck maintenance facility at 3501 Channahon Road.

According to the city of Joliet's memo, the site contains a vacant commercial building that was occupied by a bar and restaurant business for many years until the fall of 2021. The site has not been redeveloped or occupied since the business closed. The new owner bought the property last June.

According to Joliet's director of community development Dustin Anderson, the proposed development would contain an office and maintenance building with associated truck and trailer parking for the owner’s freight carrier business, Interstate Freights LLC.

Interstate Freights is an over-the-road truck carrier that maintains an office in Naperville and a truck parking location in Summit. Anderson explained that the special use petitioner would like to consolidate their operations at the subject site along Joliet's Route 6 to serve their fleet of around 50 trucks, which are primarily out on the road and would use this location for maintenance as needed.

The petitioner estimates there will be around four truck trips to and from the site per day most days of the week, with around seven trips per day on Fridays. Proposed hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The location would initially have around five employees with the potential for up to 10 employees, Anderson explained to the Council.

The 4.7-acre subject site is zoned light industrial and located on U.S Route 6 across from the Ketone industrial park, which is zoned general industrial. The west and north sides of the subject site are adjacent to Will County Forest Preserve property. The east side of the site is adjacent to a residential use within unincorporated Will County, zoned single-family residence.

What's proposed:

Anderson said the proposed site plan contains a 24,300-square-foot building, with around 18,000 square feet for the mechanic bays and associated storage and a 6,300-square-foot office area.

Around 10 employee parking spaces would be located at the southwest corner of the site next to the building. The remainder of the site would contain a parking area with around 61 trailer stalls. The development would be accessed by one driveway off Channahon Road near the west end of the site. The existing billboard will be removed. The site plan notes that stormwater detention will be provided underground.