Bally's Chicago is an upcoming

casino resort A casino hotel is an establishment consisting of a casino with temporary lodging provided in an on-premises hotel. Customers receive the benefits of both gambling facilities and lodging. Since the casino and hotel are located on the same premis ...

that will be built in the city of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. In May 2022, Mayor Lori Lightfoot approved

Bally's Corporation Bally's Corporation is a gaming, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. It owns and operates 15 casinos across ten states, a horse track in Colorado, and online sports betting operations in 14 ...

's bid to construct a casino complex in the city. The complex will be located in the city's River West neighborhood on the bank of the North Branch of the

Chicago River The Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of Chicago, including its center (the Chicago Loop). Though not especially long, the river is notable because it is one of the reasons for ...

, near the intersection of

Chicago Avenue Chicago Avenue is a major east–west street in Chicago, Illinois that runs at 800 north from 385 east to 5968 west in the Chicago street address system from which point it enters the suburbs and goes into several different suburban address ...

and

Halsted Street Halsted Street is a major north-south street in the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois. Location In Chicago's grid system, Halsted Street marks 800 West, west of State Street, from Grace Street (3800 N) in Lakeview south to the city limits at t ...

. The plan was approved by the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mon ...

in May 2022.

Background

In the 2019 mayoral election, the topic of constructing a casino in the city was a main subject to then-mayoral candidates

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as a ...

and

Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the current County Board President in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was first elected as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the e ...

with both signaling their approval for the project. The prospect of a casino location in Chicago predated the election with

overseeing construction of gambling locations in areas outside of Chicago. Legislation expanding

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

in Illinois was passed by the state legislature at the start of June 2019 and signed by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

J. B. Pritzker. However this bill did not approve the construction of a casino. Shortly afterwards, Lightfoot announced that the city would commence study of where a Chicago

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

would be located. Lightfoot's predecessors had long sought to obtain a casino for the city. In November 2019 a gaming bill proposed by Pritzker failed to be passed in the Illinois Legislature due to a veto session. Lightfoot cited that the bill's failed proposal would not impact the construction plans, however cited that the casino's potential revenue would greatly impact the city's budget and capital bill. She continued to push, however, for the state to authorize a casino jointly owned by the city and state and with a lesser effective tax rate than the passed legislation specified. The goal for a casino construction was to establish a $200 million in annual tax revenue from the casino to fund police and firefighter pension funds.

Bidding process

Chicago Avenue Bridge from south in 2014

In April 2021, Lightfoot announced the beginning of the bidding process for the city's "casino-resort". She stated that proposals must include plans for a 500-room hotel, meeting space, restaurants, bars and entertainment venues. In November 2021, Lightfoot announced the city's top five bids for a Chicago casino. She set a public meeting for the proposals for December 16, 2021. In March 2022, the three final bidding proposals were announced. The first was from Rush Street Gaming, which would cost

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

$1.62 billion and would be built between the

South Loop The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in Nort ...

and Chinatown along the

. The second was a USD $1.74 billion proposal from the eventual chosen

to build the casino and resort on the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' printing plant in the River West neighborhood. The final proposal was a $1.74 billion proposal from Hard Rock to build the casino and resort, across from

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Foot ...

. On May 5, 2022, Lightfoot announced that she had selected the bid from the Bally's Corporation. The proposal still needs city council approval and Illinois Gaming Board approval. Reaction to the casino selection was controversial with many residents living near the proposed site.

Casino details

When the Bally's Corporation sought their bid, they proposed a $1.6 billion casino and resort, where the current ''

'' Publishing Center is located. Bally's has the option to buy the 30-acre site. The corporation has a plan to retrofit the former warehouse at the current Tribune plant in order to serve as a temporary casino while the casino is being built. The first phase of the process would cost $1 billion, which would include 2,700

slot machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine ( Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively ...

s, 95 table games, a suite-only hotel, with 100 suites. There would also be an outdoor music venue with space for 1,000 people. After having a 20% return on investment from phase 1, Bally's would have a $600 million expansion. There would be a total of 4,000 gaming seats with the expansion, a new 400 room hotel, a 3000 seat indoor venue, and a 20,000 sq ft exhibition space. The temporary casino will be located at

Medinah Temple The Medinah Temple is a large Moorish Revival building in Chicago built by Shriners architects Huehl and Schmidt in 1912. It is located on the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois at 600 N. Wabash Avenue, extending from Ohio Street to Ontario ...

at 600 N. Wabash Ave. The permanent location will include a 3,000 seat theater, an extension of the

Chicago Riverwalk The Chicago Riverwalk is a multi-use public space located on the south bank of the main branch of the Chicago River in Chicago, extending from Lake Michigan and Lake Shore Drive westward to Lake Street. The Chicago Riverwalk contains restaurant ...

, pedestrian bridge, six restaurants, a food hall, and room for 3,400 slots and 173 game tables.

Location

A casino location was proposed on the south street of the

McCormick Place McCormick Place is the largest convention center in North America. It consists of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. McCo ...

near

Lake Shore Drive Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive, and called DuSable Lake Shore Drive, The Outer Drive, The Drive, or LSD) is a multilevel expressway that runs alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and adjacent t ...

. This proposal was rejected by the

in March 2022. The

James R. Thompson Center The James R. Thompson Center (JRTC), originally the State of Illinois Center, is a postmodern-style civic building designed by architect Helmut Jahn, located at 100 W. Randolph Street in the Loop district of Chicago. It houses offices of the Il ...

was also discussed as a possible casino venue. In May 2022, the location of the casino and resort was announced and would be located in the River West neighborhood. The temporary location will open in mid-2023 with the permanent location opening in 2026.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://casinos.ballys.com/chicago/, Bally's Chicago Casinos in Illinois Unbuilt casinos