Bally’s vision for a $1.7 billion riverfront gambling and entertainment complex was approved by the Chicago Plan Commission, clearing one of the last remaining obstacles for the city’s first casino.
The commission’s signoff Monday leaves a full City Council vote and approval by the Illinois Gaming Board as the last two remaining steps for Rhode Island-based Bally’s to begin redeveloping the 30-acre site along the Chicago River, after decades of efforts by the city to bring a tax-generating casino to the city.
Bally’s last month completed a $200 million purchase of the site from broadcast company Nexstar Media Group, before then assigning the purchase to Oak Street Real Estate Capital. That is part of a $500 million financing package the Chicago-based private equity firm is providing as part of a sale-leaseback deal, with Oak Street expected to fund up to $300 million in construction costs as Bally’s reaches construction milestones, the companies said in November.
The sale-leaseback deal is for 99 years, with two 20-year renewal options.
The Bally's site is along the river north of the Loop business district on mostly vacant land. It also includes the Freedom Center, where newspapers including the Chicago Tribune are printed. That structure, which is surrounded by vacant land, is expected to eventually be demolished.
The Freedom Center site runs along the river between Chicago and Grand avenues.
Monday’s Plan Commission vote came about seven months after Mayor Lori Lightfoot chose the Bally’s proposal in early May over two other finalists: Rush Street Gaming, which would have built a casino as part of Related Midwest’s The 78 megadevelopment south of the Loop, and Hard Rock, which would have operated a casino as part of Wisconsin-based developer Bob Dunn’s proposed One Central megadevelopment on a platform built over train tracks near Soldier Field.
After Lightfoot chose the Bally’s proposal, City Council later that month voted in approval.
The latest votes by the planning commission and City Council are to approve the planned development or the broader zoning agreement for the entire site.
Providence, Rhode Island-based Bally’s has said it wants to open a temporary casino in the Medinah Temple building in River North by next year and open the permanent casino along the river in 2026.
Bally’s is planning a casino with 4,000 gaming positions, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater and an event center in the first construction phase. Later phases are expected to include another 250 hotel rooms, about 4,800 apartments and 125,000 square feet of retail.
There also will be a 2,100-foot-long Riverwalk as part of 10.6 acres of publicly accessible open space, according to Bally’s and the city. The project is expected to generate 3,000 construction jobs annually and 3,000 permanent jobs.