Real Estate
You Can Buy An Old Catholic Church In Joliet: It's For Sale
The property at 113 North Ottawa Street is touted as an historic redevelopment opportunity. It can be all yours for the price of $348,000.
JOLIET, IL — Several months after the Gould Brothers Excavating and Demolition Company tore down the Fiatt House, the old priory where the priests lived, the old St. Mary Carmelite Catholic Church in downtown Joliet is on the real estate market.
Real estate brokers Fatina Sayegh and Bill Caton of Caton Commercial Real Estate Group are trying to sell the property at 113 N. Ottawa Street for $348,000. Their listing recently appeared on the commercial website, LoopNet.
The real estate brokers told Joliet Patch that there are a number of potential tax incentives available for the project. The old St. Mary's is located in an Opportunity Zone and a Tax Increment Finance District.
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"Multiple incentives available from the City of Joliet and the City Center Partnership," the Joliet real estate listing reads.
The two-story building encompasses 12,000 square feet, and it's across the street from the Harrah's Casino & Hotel.
Find out what's happening in Jolietfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The church was built during the late 1870s, but the Diocese of Joliet closed St. Mary's Carmelite in 1991.
According to Caton Commercial, 113 N. Ottawa St. is "ideally suited for entertainment venue promoted as a destination to enhance the ongoing tourism of the Downtown Joliet area. Minutes from the Joliet Gateway Center transportation station with Metra Train routes directly to and from Chicago’s Union Station."
In 2020, Joliet Patch reported that Brian Baetz, who lived in the Chicago suburbs, had bought the property. At that time, then-city of Joliet economic development director Derek Conley said that Baetz may be contemplating opening "a banquet hall, restaurant, something of that nature."
As it stands, the new St. Mary Carmelite Church listing on the real estate market comes during the same month that Joliet business investor Noe Patino just opened his El Camaleon Bar & Grill at the former Montgomery Ward building, now called Plaza 66, just south of St. Mary's.
Related Joliet Patch article:
Joliet's Newest Bar Restaurant, El Camaleon, Marks Grand Opening
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