Chicago’s Bally’s Casino-related hiccups have continued over the past week. The project has already made news for missing financial projections from its temporary site and seeing the entire bidding process face investigations from city and federal officials.
Bally’s has also now announced that the resort’s planned 400-room hotel tower will have to be moved to avoid damaging vital water lines beneath the site where the new property is planned.
Make changes
Construction of the $1.7 billion project is scheduled to begin this year at the Freedom Center in the River West region. Plans called for the casino-hotel tower to be placed at the north end of the site.
The development will also include restaurants, retail outlets, casino gaming and a 3,000-seat theater at the south end as well as 10 acres of public open space and a one-acre riverside park.
Water pipeline infrastructure challenges have now forced the company to review the plan. The resort will now see a 100-room hotel as part of a four-storey complex that will also include the casino itself. Officials in Bali indicated that a 400-room tower would then be built on top of this site within five years. Change is not expected to happen Affect the construction schedule.
“Due to unforeseen infrastructure issues, an alternative plan has been submitted to the city to move the hotel tower on site and remain on schedule for 2026,” a Bally spokesperson said. Chicago Tribune. “The revised plan includes more green spaces as requested by the community and the delivery of initial hotel rooms and a completed hotel tower at the project site, as promised.”
Another obstacle
City officials have longed to bring a casino within city limits for several years. A temporary casino opened at the Medina Temple in the North River District in September, but the property did not meet the city’s financial projections.
For 2023, the casino generated just $3.1 million in tax revenue, about $10 million less than the city’s original estimate of $12.8 million.
In December, news also emerged that the bid for the project was also facing multiple investigations. Critics have claimed there are issues with transparency, casino financing irregularities and conflicts of interest among some participants representing the city.
