Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is getting closer to deciding which one of five casino proposals she’ll present to the city council. In a recent interview with Crain’s, Lightfoot hinted it would be “fair” to say one or two of the bids for a downtown casino will not meet the city’s standards.
Lightfoot said within the next few weeks her office will issue a report ranking the five bidders “in terms of meeting the various criteria that we’ve set forth.” She said another round of public comment would follow that, then she’ll select her choice to recommend to the full council.
Three of the five casino proposals—Bally’s McCormick Place, Rush Street Gaming’s Rivers Chicago McCormick and Hard Rock One Central—have based their plans on property controlled by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. The agency would vote on making its property available to the city if one of those projects are chosen. The two other bids are Bally’s proposal for the Tribune Publishing Center on the near north side and Rivers 78 between the South Loop and Chinatown.
Lightfoot said she’s carefully scrutinizing each developer’s financial capabilities to make sure their plan will benefit the city immediately and not depend on future on performance. She said, “We’ve got to make sure that we’ve looked at the financials from every possible angle. I have zero interest in getting into a financial relationship with anybody that cannot deliver. This cannot be a city funded casino. That’s not the plan. My expectation is that the one that we ultimately select is one that’s going to have met all those financial diligence checkpoints.”
According to MPEA Executive Director Larita Clark, 38 percent of McCormick Place clients were “very supportive” of a casino near the campus as opposed to on it; another 38 percent were “somewhat supportive” and 25 percent were “somewhat opposed.”
Meanwhile, Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry said the group favors Rush Street’s Rivers Chicago McCormick, Neil Bluhm’s proposal at Lakeside Center, the oldest and least-used building at McCormick Place. Friends of the Parks’ goal is to preserve open space along the lakefront. Bluhm is a native Chicagoan and is politically connected to many elements in city government.
Irizarry said Rivers Chicago McCormick “has reached out to” Friends of the Parks and has been “the only team to do so.” She said Bluhm and his partners are “listening to our concerns” and paying close attention to “ways people and animals benefit from the lakefront. As we’ve consistently advocated for, the current proposal imagines greening in the parking area that returns more than five acres of asphalt parking lots to public parkland.”
Irizarry noted Bluhm’s plan would install a green roof atop Lakeside Center, enhance the McCormick Bird Sanctuary and create five more acres of public plaza surrounding the building “without expanding” the existing footprint. She said, “Such access is the idea that we envisioned back in the early ’90’s when we advocated for a new public entrance that makes it possible to enter the building from the lakefront path. This access for visitors, including those who are not using the casino, would activate this space that has blocked east-west access to the lakefront for decades, instead inviting all Chicagoans to enjoy the glory of Lake Michigan from a perch above the parkland.”
The $1.3 billion project with 2,600 gaming positions would cost $700 million less than the most expensive plan. Officials said the proposal would provide “much-needed restoration and deferred maintenance” of Lakeside Center. There is no hotel included in the Lakeside Center project, Rush Street Gaming says it will work with surrounding hotels to house customers of the casino.
