Joliet makes another parking deal with developer John Bays

The city of Joliet has made a second deal for downtown parking space with developer John Bays.

Bays will have exclusive use of the Riverwall parking lot, which is rundown and seldom used.

The parking lot along the Des Plaines River is located across Joliet Street from Bays Tower, making it an attractive asset for Bays.

The city, which sold its Scott Street parking deck to Bays in 2021, will retain ownership of the Riverwall lot under a two-year agreement with Bays.

Bays will repave the lot and make other improvements to provide parking for tenants for Bays Tower, which opened this year and has 140 apartments.

“It gives me a little time to buy property,” said Bays, who is buying property around Bays Tower, located at 311 Ottawa St., to provide future parking for tenants.

In the meantime, Bays has exclusive access to parking spaces in the Riverwall lot for his tenants.

The city will get an improved parking lot from Bays, who already has started on the repaving and landscaping required in the agreement. He also will add parking lot lighting.

Council member Joe Clement, a tenant in another of Bays’ building downtown, called the arrangement “a positive thing” for the city.

The council on Tuesday voted 9-0 to approve the agreement.

Bays also has downtown apartments at the former St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, a former International House of Pancakes restaurant and the former Rialto Square office building on Chicago Street.

He has been developing apartments at a time that the city is trying to attract more developers to create a residential base downtown.

Bays said there is a high demand for apartments at his Bays Tower, but he has limited access while screening applicants.

The city in 2021 sold its Scott Street parking deck, which had 340 spaces, to Bays for $151,000.

The city was losing money on the parking deck, and a consultant had advised that it needed $915,000 in repairs.

Bays, who has made repairs on the Scott Street deck, said it is now making a profit for him.

At the time he bought it, Bays said he wanted the deck so he could provide free parking to employees in downtown space that he rents.

Bays on Wednesday said he has about 475,000 square feet of space downtown, which is part of 1.2 million square feet of developed space that he rents in the Joliet area.