Business plans brewing at Joliet’s Union Station

The operator of the Grand Ballroom at Union Station in Joliet wants a lease extension while the city is reviewing several proposals for new use of the MyGrain Brewing space.

The ballroom and former brewpub make up nearly all the space leased out by the city of Joliet for private use at the 1912 train station.

The proposed lease for the Grand Ballroom could keep the Mistwood Golf Club as the operator of the space until 2037.

Meanwhile, proposals for new use for the former MyGrain space could come to the City Council Land Use and Economic Development Committee at a June meeting.

Joliet Economic Development Director Paulina Martinez discussed future use of both spaces when the committee met on Wednesday.

Martinez said Mistwood is looking to extend its lease because it is getting potential bookings for weddings beyond Jan. 31, 2027, when the current lease expires.

The committee gave its preliminary approval to a new lease agreement, which still needs approval from the full City Council.

Committee Chairman Cesar Cardenas commented that he is pleased to see the amount of activity Mistwood generates for events at the Grand Ballroom.

“It’s good to hear you have inquiries for further out than 2027, and we’re excited to continue that partnership,” Cardenas told a Mistwood representative at the meeting.

Mistwood has been the manager of the Grand Ballroom since 2017.

The space in Union Station actually is operated under an entity named JBM Hospitality, which oversees both the Joliet space and a banquet facility at the Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville.

Martinez outlined the proposed lease extension.

• Mistwood now pays $5,000 a month or 15% of food and beverage sales, whichever is greater.

• In 2027, a new five-year lease would set rent at $5,500 a month or 18% of food and beverage sales, which ever is greater. The flat monthly rent would rise $250 each year of the lease.

• Both sides would have the option to renew the lease for another five years with the flat monthly rent continuing to go up $250 a year, but the city’s percentage of food and beverage sales would rise to 20% with Mistwood again paying whichever is greater.

The Grand Ballroom is on the second floor of Union Station and the MyGrain space is on the first.

The city now has five proposals from potential users of the MyGrain space, Martinez told the committee.

“We are reviewing those, and we’re hoping to bring them in June for the Land Use and Economic Development Committee,” she told the committee.

The city invited proposals for the space on March 4 and initially received two before extending the deadline and stepping up its promotion of the space.

MyGrain operated for six years before closing in August 2023.

City officials have said they want a restaurant in the space but are not requiring that it be a brewpub.