Bally’s, Chicago Should Redo Casino Approval Process, Says Editorial
Posted on: January 24, 2024, 05:38h.
Last updated on: January 24, 2024, 11:22h.
It was revealed last week that Bally’s will have to construct a hotel tower for its permanent Chicago casino in a new location because of municipal water pipes under Chicago Tribune’s Freedom Center.
Shifting the location of the proposed 100-room hotel is no easy task. The regional casino operator believes it can move the hotel to another structure slated to be built on the south end of the property. Still, the water pipe issue is viewed as the latest in a long line of snafus involving Bally’s Chicago plans, and some locals believe the entire approval process should be subject to a “do-over.”
In a recent op-ed, the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board noted that while the Chicago Plan Commission and City Council previously approved Bally’s Freedom Center plans, Mayor Brandon Johnson should get involved and force a redo of the approval process. The newspaper criticized the gaming company and the city for not being aware of the piping issuer sooner.
Shame on Bally’s and the city for not having done the work months ago to determine what is underneath the planned hotel site near Chicago Avenue and the river,” wrote the editorial board.
The $1.7 billion Bally’s Chicago is the operator’s most expensive project and will be the first casino hotel in the third-largest U.S. city. The Rhode Island-based gaming company currently runs a temporary gaming venue at Medinah Temple in the River North section of the city.
Bally’s Chicago Beset by Issues
For now, it appears Bally’s can move the hotel’s location. However, the need to do so adds to many Chicago venture issues.
Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D-Chicago) picked Bally’s as the winning bidder for the Chicago casino license in May 2022 over Hard Rock International, the gaming arm of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming.
Since then, controversy has emerged. Last month, reports surfaced that there may be multiple investigations, including one federal, into how the city awarded the permit to Bally’s.
“The Sun-Times reported last June that Nomura Securities, a city consultant selected to evaluate casino proposals when Lightfoot was mayor, had financial ties to Bally’s — the company that was ultimately selected over two more established enterprises to build and operate the casino,” wrote the paper’s editorial team.
Bally’s Chicago Off to Slow Start
Compounding the aforementioned woes is the point that the temporary casino is off to a disappointing start. From its debut last September through December, the venue generated just $3.1 million in revenue for the city, far short of the $12.8 million previously forecast by the Lightfoot administration.
Bally’s is aiming to commence construction on the permanent casino hotel at some point this year. If the approval process is restarted, delays could be significant.
However, the Sun-Times editorial board argues a fresh start is necessary to ensure taxpayer confidence in the project and that there are no more negative surprises.
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Last Comments ( 14 )
Investors in Bally's are watching closely how BALY stock struggles to surpass even a $14.00 valuation. When will Bally's accelerating casino revenue that is hoped for actually be achieved? An important factor in generating that revenue includes retaining new customers. Bally's Chicago will get only one chance to make that first impression with each new customer. Ask Bally's current casino hotel guests nationwide if they are genuinely happy with their most recent visits to the many Bally's casino hotel properties throughout the country. Read the most recent online reviews for Bally's casinos posted in just the past six months. Ask those same patrons how soon they plan to return. Are they telling their friends, "That was really a great time at Bally's last weekend! It was over the top and I enjoyed everything about ithe place. Let's plan to go back there as soon and often as we can!" You won't find a single review like that, especially if you don't take the time to actually look for the current pulse check of what is going on right now. Maybe repeating the same actions over and over again while expecting different results will not contribute to the accelerating casino revenue that is being hoped for by Bally's. Those current customer reviews spell it out right now in real time.
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The US already has a long standing epidemic of addiction, depression, suicide, and mass violence. Opening a gambling casino in State College is a legislative and communal suicide mission. 99% of our citizens reject all gambling casinos in our community. P.S. This is still a Democracy, is it not? Micaela
I hope this will become just the latest example of shedding light on how casino developers and local government officials, driven by greed, twist the rules and disregard public opinion to force these destructive entities on our communities. This has to end.
No means No. State College and Nittany Valley residents, by a 99% majority, have said No to a casino in our community. We don't want the broken lives, we don't want the neglected kids and burdens on our police and social services. And we don't want the sleaze factor. For that, we already have the Penn State Board of Trustees and our local developers.
This news about Bally's Chicago is not surprising. Bally's has shown once again they fail to follow established best practices for good business decisions. The official approval for Bally's Chicago should have never happened. Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg and her team need to carefully review the entire decision process that got us here. The findings from that review will clearly show that the previously granted approval for Bally's Chicago needs to be rescinded immediately.
Bally’s should not come here! It would be a disaster for our community.
Here in State College, there is a simmering controversy and ongoing litigation about Bally’s building a Casino here near Penn State. Bally’s needs to focus on the nuts and bolts and water pipes of its core enterprises, and stop stirring up bad publicity for the industry in these high profile cases. Bally’s stay out of Penn State!
Did you ever watch anyone's family home become a broken home? That's a perfect example of what happens when a gambling addiction causes the death of someone's dreams. The Bally's Chicago casino will never benefit anyone who regularly patronizes the place. It is a shiny, noisy and glitzy distraction that allows the well-connected to get wealthier at the expense of hard-working Chicago families and individuals who will regularly lose their paychecks, Social Security payments and their gas and grocery money. That's OK, some say the "Great Value" brand is "just as good!" It's time to recognize the "bait-and-switch" tactics that Bally's hopes we'll never notice. Nice try, Bally's. Fortunately, we have already noticed and we understand your tactics. Checkmate.
Bally's should be aware that the community of State College does not want its casino here. It's a nightmare of an idea for everyone, including Bally's. How on earth did this situation come so far? We do not want Bally's or any other casino in this college town; it would be located less than 4 miles away from Penn State's main campus.
Happy Valley doesn't need or want a casino to stay happy. Please find a legal license somewhere else!
The selection of Bally's for the Chicago casino should be carefully scrutinized. My understanding from various credible sources: The mayor's office introduced Bally's to GRIT Chicago for a joint casino bid at the "McCormick East" building owned by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, MPEA, owner of McCormick Place, Chicago's convention center. But, GRIT decided to make a bid with Rivers Casino vs. Bally's for MPEA's East building. In response to GRIT's decision to go with Rivers vs Bally's, the mayor's office introduces Bally's to the Tribune site (the successful bid) and the Marshaling Yards, another property owned by MPEA, which was at the time, and maybe still is under a LOI with GRIT Chicago. GRIT Chicago threatened a lawsuit if Bally's Marshaling Yards bid won. Why was the mayor's office so interested in Bally's? Bally's paid one application fee vs two? The mayor's office was in communication with Bally's during the bid review process which was prohibited. The casino is tourism and convention, it should be located by MPEA / convention facilities not in a residential area with traffic issues, away from downtown hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues. What is the dynamic between GRIT, Bally's and the mayor's office? Alderman King? The McCormick East building is desperate of few hundred million dollars of deferred maintenance to keep it in service and the winning bid goes to 500 West Grand Ave (Tribune Freedom Center) vs the lakefront benefiting from existing tourism and entertainment infrastructure, with great access, minutes from restaurants, shopping and entertainment?
When it comes to anything having to do with Bally's, let the buyer beware.
Will Bally's leadership remain undeterred by this possible setback? While these latest developments are being sorted out in Chicago, Bally's continues to hold out hope for the approval to finally build their first brick-and-mortar casino in Pennsylvania. We're not completely sure how they were persuaded to choose the bucolic college town of State College, but we are sure that Penn State University won't speak out either way about the project. The casino's well-known local developers are among the very highest of the University's major financial donors. Bally's corporate decision-makers are confident they will receive regulatory approval from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to build that brand-new Bally's casino inside a vacant former Macy's department store just down the road from Penn State's main campus. Does Bally's realize that particular Nittany Mall site in Happy Valley is one of the nation's many dying shopping malls now facing a dim future? Bally's hopes to not be embarrassed by this emerging setback in Chicago. They are already bracing for some highly visible disappointment in central Pennsylvania.