Joliet Has Never Seen Development, Growth Like This On Full Display: Shopping, Restaurants And Entertainment

JOLIET, IL — As mayor Terry D'Arcy winds down his first four-year term of office, the city of Joliet is the backdrop for major business development and much of his city's economic growth is at Rock Run Collection, Joliet's transformative development off Interstate 55 near Interstate 80.

Practically every day now, you will see hundreds of union contractors and skilled tradesmen pouring the foundations, erecting the walls or hauling away truckloads of dirt at Joliet's new shopping center. The new Hollywood Casino opened in August 2025 and it has turned into everything Joliet imagined; now all of the retail stores and shops are starting to follow along Gateway Boulevard. There's even a new Ricky Rockets gas station and convenience store that poised to open before the year's end.

“With Hollywood Casino Joliet thriving, residents now calling The View luxury apartments home, construction moving quickly across the development, and DICK’S House of Sport anchoring this next phase, Rock Run Collection is alive in every way,” remarked Diane Cullinan Oberhelman, Chairman of Cullinan Properties at her September ground-breaking ceremony.

Joining DICK’S House of Sport, the newly named retail tenants to open before the fall of 2027 include Five Below, Maurices, Spencer’s, Buckle, and Milano Nail Salon.

Earlier this year, DICK’S Sporting Goods announced plans to build its experiential retail concept, DICK’S House of Sport, at Rock Run Collection and construction on its building is also underway now.

The 120,000-square-foot facility is the first DICK’S House of Sport to be built from the ground up in the Chicagoland area. The store will provide athletes with in-store experiences, including a climbing wall, multiple golf bays with TrackMan simulators, and a multi-sport cage that can be used for baseball, softball, lacrosse, and soccer, and give athletes an opportunity to try product while measuring and tracking their performance.

“DICK'S House of Sport does not go just anywhere, and the fact that they chose Joliet, and chose to build it from the ground up here, tells you everything about where this city is headed. Shopping, restaurants, and entertainment are following. Look at the great announcements today and more
coming, not to mention the activity already happening here. Hollywood Casino, Chipotle, the View apartments, Ricky Rockets and so much more. We can’t wait for the retail momentum to open doors in 2027,” declared Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy at the September press conference.

Last December, Joliet Patch broke the news revealing that Joliet is now getting a Drury Plaza Hotel. The new hotel is seven stories tall and feature about 180 rooms.

The Drury Plaza Hotel is set to open in early 2027.

"Breaking ground on the Drury Plaza Hotel at Rock Run Collection is a major milestone for this development and for the region as a whole," Tyler Buck, vice president for strategic initiatives with Cullinan Properties, told Joliet Patch last December. "With the tremendous performance and foot traffic already being generated by Hollywood Casino, the addition of Drury immediately elevates Rock Run as a true super-regional destination. This hotel strengthens everything we are building here and accelerates the momentum we are seeing across the entire site," Buck continued.

Nearby, the Cullinan Properties is now leasing The View at Rock Run Collection. The brochure motto is: "Experience Where Life and Living Meet.

"We're trying to develop a lifestyle or community feel," Cullinan Properties executive vice president of construction Kevin Thornton previously told Joliet Patch's editor. "It's a super-regional destination that will have a downtown feel with its walkability and walking paths and it's right off Interstate 80 and Interstate 55.

"It's only 15 minutes to Bolingbrook or Naperville. It's 30 minutes to Burr Ridge. It's 25 minutes to Downers Grove. It's so close to everything. There's a housing shortage in the United States and we're hoping to alleviate that."

Phase one of the project has been finished, the first 264 apartments. The second phase has yet to begin and that consists of the remaining 306 apartments.

The apartments at 1201 Rock Run Crossing consist of studios, one bedroom and two-bedroom floorplans. The community amenities include: resort-style swimming pool, state of the art 7,638-square-foot clubhouse, 24/7 fitness center, grilling stations, private garages and surface lot parking. There are EV charging stations, monthly resident events, maintenance-free living and on-site management.