Business & Tech
New Restaurant/Bar Could Fill Old Downtown Crabigales Site
Chicago restauranteur PJ Zonis, a University of St. Francis graduate, would pay the city of Joliet $250,000 for the 1 E. Cass St. building, EDC Director Jim Haller said.
A Chicago restauranteur with ties to Joliet wants to buy the downtown building that was once Crabigales Comedy Club and Restaurant, Joliet Community & Economic Development Director Jim Haller said.
PJ Zonis, owner of Lockdown Bar & Grill in Chicago's Ukranian Village neighborhood, has emerged as the city's preferred buyer for the property at the corner of Cass and Chicago streets, which reverted back to city ownership when the property went into foreclosure and Crabigales owner Brian Graf died in 2008.
The sale price is $250,000, an amount that's low enough for Joliet officials to have the luxury of choosing a buyer with the financial wherewithal and proven track record to make a go of a downtown business, Haller said.
An added plus is Zonis' ties to Joliet. He's a University of St. Francis graduate who told officials that "four of his happiest years were at USF," Haller said.
Before entering into an agreement, city officials checked out Lockdown to see what kind of business Zonis operates, he said.
"We sampled his wares, and found that he seemed to be pretty good at (what he was doing)," Haller said. "It was all about quality, all about value."
According to Lockdown's Web site, the restaurant marries "amazing food, great beer, terrific drink deals and excellent service" with classic rock concerts shown on a dozen of plasma televisions. The focus, in particular, is on heavy metal favorites, such as Iron Maiden and Metallica, which Zonis says on the site is his passion.
Haller said it's not known if Zonis plans to open another Lockdown at the 1 E. Cass St. location or if he has a different vision in mind.
The sale proposal will go before the city's Economic Development Committee Tuesday, which could authorize city lawyers to draft a sale contract for full Joliet City Council, Haller said.
What Zonis will be buying, if the sale goes through, is a 123-year-old structure -- known by many as the Loughran Building -- that has 16,000 square feet of space renovated by Graf when he purchased it in 2004, Coldwell Banker Realtor Keith Conroy said.
Although some work will be needed, it's more cosmetic than structural, Conroy said.
In fact, that and the fact that the city's asking price is so low made it one of the most appealing properties downtown, Conroy said. He estimates he has shown it to an average of two potential buyers every week for the last couple of years.
Haller said that once the sale is complete, Zonis would probably need less than a year to get the restaurant/bar ready to open to the public.
It's not clear whether the city will offer any additional incentives to Zonis beyond the low purchase price, but tax breaks or inclusion in a TIF zone could be part of the deal if he remodels the building's top two floors, Haller said. Graf started but did not finish renovating the second floor for banquet/meeting rooms before he closed the business in 2006.
Haller said the city will include a provision in the sale contract that mandates that building return to Joliet ownership should the business fail and the structure go dormant again. That's how the city came to regain the site after Graf's death, he said.
Creating a downtown dining/drinking destination is a key part of the downtown puzzle for city officials, who have struggled in their efforts to revive the "city center."
With the construction of a new Joliet Junior College building on the north side of downtown, the Joliet Gateway Center to the south and draws such as the Rialto Square Theatre, The Department, MoeJoe's and Silver Cross Stadium already in place, downtown is closer than it's ever been to solidifying the downtown vision, Haller said.
"It kind of reminds of the time after the recession in the 1980s, there are a lot of inquiries, a lot of ideas ... and some of them are going to turn into reality," he said.
The sale price is $250,000, an amount that's low enough for Joliet officials to have the luxury of choosing a buyer with the financial wherewithal and proven track record to make a go of a downtown business, Haller said.
An added plus is Zonis' ties to Joliet. He's a University of St. Francis graduate who told officials that "four of his happiest years were at USF," Haller said.
Before entering into an agreement, city officials checked out Lockdown to see what kind of business Zonis operates, he said.
"We sampled his wares, and found that he seemed to be pretty good at (what he was doing)," Haller said. "It was all about quality, all about value."
According to Lockdown's Web site, the restaurant marries "amazing food, great beer, terrific drink deals and excellent service" with classic rock concerts shown on a dozen of plasma televisions. The focus, in particular, is on heavy metal favorites, such as Iron Maiden and Metallica, which Zonis says on the site is his passion.
Haller said it's not known if Zonis plans to open another Lockdown at the 1 E. Cass St. location or if he has a different vision in mind.
The sale proposal will go before the city's Economic Development Committee Tuesday, which could authorize city lawyers to draft a sale contract for full Joliet City Council, Haller said.
What Zonis will be buying, if the sale goes through, is a 123-year-old structure -- known by many as the Loughran Building -- that has 16,000 square feet of space renovated by Graf when he purchased it in 2004, Coldwell Banker Realtor Keith Conroy said.
Although some work will be needed, it's more cosmetic than structural, Conroy said.
In fact, that and the fact that the city's asking price is so low made it one of the most appealing properties downtown, Conroy said. He estimates he has shown it to an average of two potential buyers every week for the last couple of years.
Haller said that once the sale is complete, Zonis would probably need less than a year to get the restaurant/bar ready to open to the public.
It's not clear whether the city will offer any additional incentives to Zonis beyond the low purchase price, but tax breaks or inclusion in a TIF zone could be part of the deal if he remodels the building's top two floors, Haller said. Graf started but did not finish renovating the second floor for banquet/meeting rooms before he closed the business in 2006.
Haller said the city will include a provision in the sale contract that mandates that building return to Joliet ownership should the business fail and the structure go dormant again. That's how the city came to regain the site after Graf's death, he said.
Creating a downtown dining/drinking destination is a key part of the downtown puzzle for city officials, who have struggled in their efforts to revive the "city center."
With the construction of a new Joliet Junior College building on the north side of downtown, the Joliet Gateway Center to the south and draws such as the Rialto Square Theatre, The Department, MoeJoe's and Silver Cross Stadium already in place, downtown is closer than it's ever been to solidifying the downtown vision, Haller said.
"It kind of reminds of the time after the recession in the 1980s, there are a lot of inquiries, a lot of ideas ... and some of them are going to turn into reality," he said.
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