Old Barrett Hardware Eyed For Downtown Hotel

JOLIET, IL - One year after the groundbreaking for a $215 million 10-story-high Will County Courthouse, city officials say there's substantial buzz in the development community to bring more hotel rooms to downtown. Harrah's Casino & Hotel has contemplated the idea of constructing a second hotel on property near the casino along Joliet Street.

However, a more likely scenario involves one or two local businessmen, John Bays of Bays Investment and Mike Patel, owner of the Best Western Plus near the Louis Joliet Mall, moving ahead with their separate plans, on North Chicago Street and Ottawa Street, respectively.

Mike Patel, owner of four Joliet hotel properties, recently purchased the empty Barrett's Hardware store building on downtown's North Ottawa Street.

During an interview with Joliet Patch Wednesday night, Patel sounded upbeat about the Barrett Hardware store property's prospects as a hotel. However, Patel indicated he wants some assurances that Harrah's or another investment partner, for instance, isn't going to build a large downtown hotel at the time his project got underway.

Patel said he envisions converting the Barrett's building into an 80-unit or 90-unit hotel. He told Patch he would probably add two more stories to the existing four-story building. The entrance to the hotel would probably face toward the Harrah's Casino.

Patel expects to meet with city officials in a couple weeks to discuss more details about the feasibility of his downtown hotel project, including possible incentives. After all, the Barrett's building has been vacant for decades, and it will be in need of substantial renovations.

When Patel acquired the Joliet Best Western property in 2016, he spent roughly $1.5 million in property improvements, he said.

Two Rialto Square building

In December, John Bays of Bays Investments acquired the six-story professional office building at the corner of Chicago and Clinton Streets. The Two Rialto Square building sustained massive water damage this past summer after multiple pipes burst in successive months, prompting most of the building's office tenants to move out in disgust.

Bays told Joliet Patch last week that he may convert the first three floors into offices and use the top three floors for hotel rooms. However, he stressed, the project remains in its infancy, but something will get done in 2019.

On Wednesday, Joliet Patch spotted one of the John Bays Investments trucks parked in front of the building.

"It's going to be done and it's going to be nice. 2019 is going to be a big year for me," he vowed.

Like Patel, Bays, too, is leery of moving ahead with a major hotel project if Harrah's Casino built a large second hotel, such as a Marriott's, near the casino.

Now in its 26th year downtown, Harrah's Casino remains the city's top tax generator and brings tens of thousands of people downtown annually. The Harrah's hotel has an occupancy rate of more than 90 percent, according to a city memo.

There's been talk around the city for roughly a year that Harrah's was interested in adding a second hotel, but Harrah's has never moved ahead with the project.

Therefore, it's far more likely, in 2019, that one or both of the hotel concepts, John Bays at the Two Rialto Square site, and Mike Patel with the Barrett's Hardware, would gain momentum and come fruition in 2019.

In any event, City Economic Development Director Steve Jones said it's an exciting time for downtown Joliet to have three serious hotel projects under consideration at the start of the new year. He also noted that the Jacob Henry Mansion, which is a popular venue for large events and wedding receptions, would also benefit with the addition of more hotel space in the city's downtown.

"I don't have the market savvy to say that two hotels can exist or three can exist," Jones told Patch Wednesday at his City Hall office.

"If there are more rooms, it's going to have a casino benefit. Whether it's the Rialto, people coming here for downtown business, the courthouse, banquets and events, sporting events like the Joliet Slammers and Chicagoland Speedway, Route 66 travelers, you've already got any number of things that bring people into the downtown."

Whether Bays adds a hotel or only does an office building at Two Rialto Square, Jones said, it will a positive boost for the downtown either way. "John Bays doesn't buy buildings to let them sit," Jones remarked. "What John touches succeeds."

Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor