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Mayor Bob O’Dekirk in his State of the City address defended Joliet’s track record on trucks and warehouse development.
O’Dekirk said Joliet too often gets criticized for the same kind of projects that he said go up in other towns without opposition.
Other towns actually have faced stiff opposition in some cases. The most prominent example was the successful effort to stop the NorthPoint Development annexation into Elwood.
But O’Dekirk pointed to examples where Joliet blocked warehouse development to preserve land for another project and where, the mayor said, the city lagged behind its neighbors before approving the Love’s Travel Stop.
The big news from the Monday speech was O’Dekirk’s announcement that Regal Cinemas plans to build a 17-screen theater at the Rock Run Crossings development planned for the northeast quadrant of Interstates 55 and 80.
“There was a verbal offer on that property from a logistics company in Texas,” O’Dekirk said. “The city council said no.”
Hillwood Investment Properties in 2015 had a deal to buy the 265-acre site from a previous owner if it could get rezoning to develop most of the land for warehouses. A city council committee actually approved the plan in a divided vote, but the plan never got an OK from the full council.
Later, Cullinan acquired the site for its its plans, which include shopping, hotels, office space, residences and entertainment venues like the Regal Cinemas theater.
The Regal Cinemas deal is the first lease announced for the property, but a date for the start of construction has yet to be set.
Meanwhile, O’Dekirk said, “our neighbor to the west put in a string of warehouses.”
The warehouses on the west side of I-55 are being developed in Shorewood.
O’Dekirk said the industrial development that has occurred in Joliet has generated property tax revenue, allowing the city to hold tax rates steady.
The controversial Love’s Travel Stop, he said, will generate an additional $1 million in Motor Fuel Tax revenue that can be used to maintain streets throughout Joliet.
The project also will open up development at the Briggs Street interchange, he said.
Pointing to the I-80 corridor from Minooka to Indiana, O’Dekirk said, “I don’t think you’re going to find two worse looking interchanges than Briggs Street and Richards Street in Joliet.”
Other interchanges have been developed with business including truck stops, he said.
“The question we had,” O’Dekirk said, “was why can’t that be in Joliet?”
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