St. Jude's Church For Sale: Karges Realty Reveals Asking Price

JOLIET — Just months after the Diocese of Joliet closed down St. Jude's Catholic Church and the school building at 2200 McDonough Street, one of Joliet's longest-serving real estate companies, Karges Realty, has been retained to help sell the former Catholic Church campus.

The asking price for the Diocese of Joliet property is $1.75 million, according to the new listing on Karges. The property includes more than 7 acres and was built in 1955.

According to Realtor Jim Karges, the former St. Jude's Campus in west Joliet is an excellent site for "redevelopment."

St. Jude's Campus consists of the church, a school building, a gymnasium, a convent, a rectory and a chapel. While the land is zoned R-2, which is medium density residential zoning, all the surrounding land is zoned for light industrial, neighborhood business and general business.

During a phone interview with Joliet Patch's editor, Jim Karges said that the Diocese of Joliet is willing to work with any potential buyer, and it's open to the possibility of someone buying the property to tear it down as part of a redevelopment project.

"It certainly could happen," Karges remarked.

Then again, the Diocese of Joliet would also be open to the prospect of having another religious denomination come forward to buy the church and the school.

From Karges' standpoint, the Diocese of Joliet is hoping to find a willing buyer for the St. Jude property, "the sooner the better."

Karges suggested that the former St. Jude's school "would make ideal rental properties" because the school consists of about 20 classrooms and offices with three men's bathrooms and three women's bathrooms.

Karges also touted the fact that St. Jude's contains "an outstanding gymnasium with adjacent kitchen area, a large gathering room" and a lot more.

As for the inside of the church, it needs updating and would make "an ideal theater," Karges pointed out.

The parking lot along the St. Jude's campus can accommodate more than 150 vehicles.

If you're interested in talking with Jim Karges about his listing, he can be reached at 815-474-1144 or by email at jim@jimkarges.com.

To view the St. Jude's Catholic Church's $1.75 million real estate listing, visit Karges Realty here.

In late January, Diocese of Joliet Catholic Bishop Ronald Hicks announced that five churches in and near Joliet would close for good: St. Bernard, St. Anthony, St. Jude, Sacred Heart and St. Anne.

The closings meant that St. Paul the Apostle School and St. Jude school will close, with a new school reopening on the St. Paul campus to welcome students from both Catholic schools.

"As we all are aware, many things have changed in the last 50 to 60 years. We have significantly less vocations to the priesthood, our active priests are aging, and our beautiful churches that were built with labors of love and much financial sacrifice are in need of significant repairs, largely due to prolonged deferred maintenance," Bishop Hicks announced at the time.