Chicago & Midwest + Downtown + Hospitality | December 14, 2022

City Council Approves Rezoning for Bally’s Chicago Casino

(Updated with additional information)

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved zoning changes to permit Bally’s to build its casino and entertainment district in River West. It was the last of the city’s regulatory hurdles for the project to clear before final signoff from the Illinois Gaming Board, Crain’s Chicago Business reported.

The zoning change amends a previous planned development created to redevelop the Tribune Publishing lot and the surrounding area along the Chicago River between Chicago and Grand avenues. It also governs the size, scope and uses of the buildings that will house the casino, associated hotels and residential towers to be built in the project’s second phase.

Despite opposition led by Alds. Brendan Reilly and Brian Hopkins, who represent residents living immediately east and north of the site, the zoning change was approved 39 to 5. Joining Reilly and Hopkins in voting no were Alds. Anthony Beale, Ed Burke and Ray Lopez.

In a statement, Bally’s chairman Soo Kim said, “This is a significant achievement and another critical step forward in the process of developing Bally’s Chicago. We are confident that the casino will bring numerous long-term, positive economic benefits, including good-paying, union jobs, to this great city.”

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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).