Gov. Pritzker in Shorewood to give boost to Rock Run Crossings, but doesn’t say so

The good news for the future Rock Run Crossings project is that an interchange giving access to the site will open in 2025. The bad news is that the one future tenant announced for the 309-acre project is now in bankruptcy.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker was in Shorewood on Friday to celebrate the Interstate 55 interchange project, although he made no mention of Rock Run Crossings.

Rock Run Crossings will be on the Joliet side of the I-55 interchange, and Shorewood is on the other side.

Pritzker said the new interchange, when it opens in 2025, will create full access for an interchange that has provided “partial access to Joliet and Shorewood at Route 59.”

Comments during Pritzker’s appearance focused on the benefits for Shorewood, while the governor and other officials made no reference to Rock Run Crossings, the major benefactor. Rock Run Crossings needs the access to what Prtizker said are 60,000 vehicles a day passing by on I-55.

The governor, when asked directly after prepared remarks about the role Rock Run Crossings had in the decision to build the new interchange, deferred to Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk. O’Dekirk made general comments about economic development, including Rock Run Crossings, being a factor in the new interchange.

O’Dekirk in 2019 was the first to announce that Cullinan had signed up Regal Cinemas as its first tenant for the future Rock Run Crossings, which is to include retailers, restaurants, entertainment venues and more.

Regal Cinema’s parent company filed for bankruptcy this week, creating doubt that the Joliet theater would be built.

“We still have a lease at the property and have no further comment at this time,” Cullinan spokeswoman Nicole Sutherland said in an email about the Regal Cinema situation.

Sutherland said leasing at Rock Run “remains strong” but had no other tenants to announce.

She said retailers, restaurants and entertainment providers are looking for expansion opportunities “at premier real estate sites. Fortunately, Rock Run Crossings checks these boxes with future tenants showing continued excitement for the project.”

The city of Joliet along with Cullinan Properties have been major proponents for the interchange, which has been viewed since 2008 as a necessary component to opening land at the crossroads location for development.

The $58 million cost for the interchange includes a $10.3 million contribution from Joliet. City officials this week said Joliet costs have been reduced to $1.5 million thanks to an $8.8 million federal grant that was sought jointly by the city and Cullinan.

That wasn’t the only news from the city about the Rock Run Crossings project this week.

The council approved an expanded Tax Increment Financing District to cover the full 309 acres of Rock Run Crossings. The TIF District allows the use of property tax dollars from Rock Run Crossings to fund infrastructure improvements.

Joliet will need the TIF money to pay off $103 million in bonds the city will issue to pay for infrastructure on the Rock Run Crossings site.

The council this week also approved the use of two underwriters – JP Morgan Chase and Bernardi Securities – to sell about $40 million of the bonds.

Two council members, however, objected, noting Cullinan’s control over the underwriters used to sell city bonds. Cullinan has insisted that the firm Stifel Nicolaus sell the majority of the bonds.

“I’m a little concerned that we don’t have control over our own municipal bonding,” council member Larry Hug said before joining Jan Quillman as no votes in the 6-2 approval of the two additional underwriters.

For the governor, however, Friday was a day to celebrate one more project in his Rebuild Illinois program.

“We’re announcing these projects one road at a time,” Pritzker said in Shorewood. “The state is getting rebuilt from top to bottom.”