John Bays plans to open downtown Joliet apartments in 2025

Developer John Bays expects to open a 139-unit apartment building in downtown Joliet by early 2025.

Bays has acquired what formerly was the Housing Authority of Joliet’s Murphy Building at 331 N. Ottawa St. He is renovating it for middle-income apartments.

“We started on it about two weeks ago,” Bays said earlier this week. “We’re in the middle of gutting it out right now.”

The renovations are expected to be completed by the end of the year. Bays said there already is strong demand for the future apartments.

“We feel we’ll be 100% occupied within three months of when we’re done,” he said.

Features in the building will include a fitness center and a restaurant, he said.

Bays is the most active developer in downtown Joliet, with office buildings, commercial space, other apartments and even a parking deck that he bought from the city.

He commented on the apartment project after a City Council meeting Monday.

The council was expected to vote Tuesday on a tax increment financing agreement that would provide city-approved incentives for the project.

But the matter was pulled from the agenda because an error was discovered in the agreement too late to amend for the Tuesday vote, City Manager Beth Beatty said. The TIF agreement will be brought back to the council for a vote at its next meeting, she said. The council next meets Sept. 1.

TIF projects pledge certain amounts of new property tax revenue created by land and building development to be used to offset the costs of construction.

The proposed TIF agreement would pay $400,000 upfront to offset redevelopment costs and additional property tax incentives for 14 years, according to a staff memo on the project.

The building was sold for $4.7 million, and the project cost is estimated at $13.2 million, according to the memo.

The city’s long-term downtown plans encourage residential development to generate foot traffic for restaurants and other businesses in the district.

According the staff memo, the renovated building will include 92 one-bedroom apartments, five two-bedroom apartments and 42 studio apartments. The building is being designed “for working professionals and empty-nesters,” according to the memo.