John Bays Equals Greatness: Joliet Chamber, Mayor D'Arcy, City Leaders Praise Bays Tower

JOLIET, IL — Joliet Chamber of Commerce vice president Mike Paone and Mayor Terry D'Arcy only had glowing things to say during the celebration of John Bays' greatest feat in decades: his year-long transformation of 311 N. Ottawa Street — the former Joliet Area Housing Authority's troublesome Murphy Building — into 140 high-end apartments now known as Bays Tower.

Thursday afternoon marked the Joliet Region Chamber of Commerce's ribbon-cutting and grand opening ceremony for the 13-story building now called Bays Tower.

Besides D'Arcy, others on hand included city manager Beth Beatty, deputy city manager Christa Desiderio and City Councilmen Joe Clement, Cesar Cardenas and Suzanna Ibarra. At least 50 people attended the celebration and rejoiced when Bays held the Chamber's giant pair of red ceremonial scissors to cut the ribbon marking his official grand opening.

Before doing so, Mayor D'Arcy and Bays talked about the incredible impact that Bays Tower will have upon downtown Joliet in the near future.

My Little Company Can Do Anything: John Bays

"Mainly, I want to thank the city, the mayor and the city manager and the City Council for letting me do this building without the aggravation of going through ... I'm an old guy. I've bought 59 bankrupt properties, everyone's been a success, bowling alleys ... car dealerships, hotels, everyone has been a success," Bays proclaimed. "And I love what I do, and without the city working with me, I would have never did this building. This building should have been torn down, to be honest with you. This was the nastiest building I've ever seen."

Bays remark drew laughter from the crowd. Then, he continued speaking, cautioning everyone, "when you see it today, this is not the finished product. We are going to keep upgrading this product. I'm going to keep the rents really reasonable, and I think we have like 61 families moved in so far, but we've got over 450 applications right now. We're screening people and we're getting you some real good people downtown and like I said, without the city helping me and working with me, I would probably never have did this.

"We work in a lot of states and when you got a city that wants to get behind you and help you, man, you can make anything happen," Bays revealed. "My little company can do anything. I mean, they can do anything, and we can do it fast.

"I'm real happy with the property right now, but it's going to be way better. You'll see. We will be upgrading every month for the next two or three years," Bays promised. "Until we've got this place the top-notch people downtown."

Mayor D'Arcy Praises John Bays' Greatness

After Bays finished his remarks, Mayor D'Arcy addressed the crowd on behalf of City Hall.

"I saw this place at the very beginning. And I thought, either I'm crazy or he's crazy," D'Arcy remarked of Bays. "But I've got to tell you, he's got a gift that none of us have, and this city appreciates everything John Bays has done for many, many years. I mean, look around the city and John has revitalized so many buildings, and this is phenomenal what he's done.

"We need to get people living downtown and John is the answer to that, so I want to thank him gratefully from the city of Joliet. Thank him for his patience, I know there's ying's and yang's when you're doing these things, but he has been a great partner and again, we as a city thank him and respect him for everything he's done here so thank you, John."

John Bays collection of properties in downtown Joliet alone consists of:

• Bays Catholic Charities building at the corner of Cass and Ottawa.
• Bays Professional Center at the corner of Cass and North Chicago, occupied by The Forge
• Two Rialto Square Building, featuring CUT 158 Steakhouse on the first floor, several professional offices on floors 1-4 and 20 luxury apartments on floors 5 and 6.
• Bays Premier Building on Jackson Street just east of the Jackson Street Bridge.
• The State of Illinois government office building on North Chicago Street near the Will County Government Offices.
• Pioneer Building across from the Will County Courthouse
• Scott Street Parking Deck, formerly owned by the city of Joliet.
• Bays Executive Center on North Scott Street
• Former St. Anthony's Catholic Church, on North Scott Street, which Bays has converted into four apartment units so far.
• Bays Tower, the 13-floor former Joliet Housing Authority public housing property at 311 N. Ottawa Street.