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Chicago & Midwest  + Downtown  + Hospitality  | 
Bally's $1.7-billion Chicago casino will be built on a 30-acre site that currently holds a Chicago Tribune printing plant

Bally’s Exercises Relocation Option for Printing Plant on Future Casino Site

Bally’s has exercised a relocation option to force Tribune Publishing to vacate its mammoth River West printing plant to make way for a casino, the Chicago Tribune reported. 

The relocation notice, delivered several weeks ago, will end a four-decade run for the Freedom Center printing plant, which is slated for demolition to build a $1.74-billion casino complex in its place along the Chicago River. 

However, Tribune Publishing will have up to two years to find a new location for its plant before the casino breaks ground, Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim said. And Bally’s will have to chip in to fund that relocation. 

“We have time,” Kim said. “The plant could have between one and two years before we put a shovel in the ground.” 

Rhode Island-based Bally’s won a heated competition to build the Chicago casino, securing final planning and zoning approval from the city in December. 

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).