City Hall Narrows Field For Chicago Casino To Three Locations

CHICAGO — City Hall narrowed the field of bidders looking to develop Chicago's only casino to three. None of them include building a mega-gaming parlor at McCormick Place.

On Tuesday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that pitches from Bally's Corp., Hard Rock and Rivers Casino made the city's short list.

The finalists include:

• Bally’s Corporation has proposed a $1.74 billion casino and hotel along the Chicago River North Branch on the current site of the Tribune Publishing printing operation. The pitch calls for a 3,000 theater, 500-room hotel, exhibition space, sports museum, an outdoor music venue an extension of the Riverwalk and a casino with room for 3,400 slot machines and 173 table games.
• Hard Rock's $1.74 billion pitch calls for anchoring the ONE Central site, above the Metra Electric tracks north of Soldier Field, with a 3,500-seat music venue, a 500-room hotel, a "Rock" spa and a casino floor with 3,000 slot machiens and 166 tabel games.
• Rivers Casino's $1.3 billion plan would anchor a proposed development along the Chicago River South Branch called "The 78." The pitch calls for a casion with 2,600 slot machines and 190 table games, a riverfront plaza and observation tower, a live entertainment venue and a 300-room hotel.

Each of the proposals will be presented to the public between April 5 and April 7. Then, city officials are set to negotiate with the finalists in hopes of making a selection by early summer that would have to be approved by the City Council and the state gaming authority.

"Each proposal offers economic, employment, and equity-focused opportunities for Chicago, while simultaneously enhancing the City’s cultural, entertainment and architectural scenes with world-class amenities and design," Lightfoot said. "Our teams look forward to heading into discussions with the finalists and getting one step closer to bringing this decades-long project to fruition."

The city's evaluation of five casino bids can be found online.