Chicago & Midwest + Downtown + Hospitality | May 23, 2022

Bally's Corporation has entered into a ground lease on the site of its future Bally's Chicago casino development

Bally’s Proposal for Chicago Casino Clears Key Hurdle with Committee Vote

The $1.7-billion Bally’s proposal to build a casino in Chicago’s River West neighborhood is set for a final vote in the City Council Wednesday after receiving the blessing of the casino committee Monday, reported Crain’s Chicago Business. The proposal passed 27-3 after changes were made giving aldermen more oversight of the city’s agreement with Bally’s

The three alderman who voted against the proposal were Brian Hopkins, Brendan Reillyand Michele Smith. Ald. Walter Burnett told Crain’s he understood that other downtown aldermen were “advocating for their community,” but argued, “Sometimes we have to do things that aren’t popular” but are a “necessity.”

He continued, “This deal is going to happen to help us to be able to balance our budget and deal with these pension challenges we’re going to have in the future.”

A draft of the so-called host community agreement underwent changes throughout the weekend before Monday’s vote, Crain’s reported.

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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).