Chicago & Midwest + Greater Chicagoland + Retail | August 5, 2019

Des Plaines Casino’s Owner Plans Bid in State’s Gaming Expansion

The owner of Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, IL plans to expand the facility and also to throw its hat into the ring for one of six new casino licenses under the state’s expanded gaming program. “We expect to participate in a bid for one of these casinos, and we’ll reveal the details in good time,” CEO Bill Carstanjen of Churchill Downs Inc. said on an earnings call.

At Rivers Casino, which is 61% owned by Louisville-based Churchill Downs, plans call for expanding capacity from 1,200 positions to 2,000, as permitted under Illinois’ recently-enacted casino legislation.

“To install the full 800 positions, Rivers will need to expand the existing building footprint, construct an extension of the parking garage and invest additional capital to support the expansion,” said Carstanjen. However, the casino could quickly add up to 250 positions within the existing space if it received approval to do so.

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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).