Chairman Soo Kim called the Chicago project 'our highest priority.'īally’s is under lease at the Medinah Temple through December 2026, a deal that guarantees $16.5 million in rent payments to prolific River North developer Albert Friedman - and that can be extended through early 2029. It’ll probably take every bit of the two, two-and-a-half years that will be required to build.'īally’s executives reiterated their confidence during a quarterly earnings call last week, when president George Papanier told investors 'we expect our permanent casino to be completed for opening' in September 2026. 'We’re all very confident that we’ll meet the timeline,' Wong told the gaming board.

Regulators questioned Bally’s Chicago general manager Mark Wong about the tight deadline during a meeting last month. That gives the company just over two years to complete their 505,000-square-foot mega-casino and hotel tower at 777 W. Under Bally’s deal with Tribune Publishing, it won’t be able to break ground on the permanent site until July 2024. Lisa Hernandez, D-Cicero, who chairs the Illinois Democratic Party, is the bill’s chief sponsor. The measure, which also includes other gaming law tweaks, passed the Senate 50-7 without debate.Ĭunningham said he’s not expecting any roadblocks in the state House of Representatives, where state Rep. 'If there is a need for a safety hatch involving the Chicago project, this would provide that, too,' Cunningham said.Ī Bally’s spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on the bill.

Still, following Bally’s lengthy negotiations to acquire the Chicago Tribune printing facility - and their ambitious construction timeline to transform it into a $1.34 billion casino - Cunningham said the flexible language in his bill 'could be helpful to the casino project at some point.' has had to hold off on building its permanent casino while a lawsuit from a spurned bidder for the coveted project plays out against the north suburb.īally’s lobbyists weren’t involved in crafting the legislation, and their massive downtown development 'was not prominent in the thinking' of the bill, according to the South Side senator, who shepherds most gaming legislation in his chamber’s Democratic super majority. Cunningham said the amendment was written at the behest of officials in Waukegan, where Full House Resorts Inc.

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