Bally's unveils further plans for Chicago casino as some aldermen say it's being pushed through too fast

CHICAGO (CBS) -- For it to become a reality, Chicago's proposed casino needs approval of city council.

On Monday, a special City Council committee on the casino threw questions about issues from crime to traffic and ethics at the would-be operator, Bally's, and at Mayor Lori Lightfoot's team, which selected Bally's last week.

As CBS 2's Chris Tye reported, the city did not conduct a new safety study to determine how crime would be impacted by a casino - in hopes of getting the casino up and generating revenue quickly. Some in the City Council feel it is too fast for something this big.

"I've got to be honest with you all - I thought this would be the last that would be chosen, but things work in mysterious ways," Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) said on the Zoom meeting.

And things are working - fast.

The city wants a temporary casino dealing at the historic Medinah Temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave. in River North next year, so they can spend Bally's $40 million in upfront dollars fast.

Then, a permanent casino is to be constructed at the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center publishing plant, near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street in River West, by 2026 at the latest.

The revenues from the casino are money the city badly needs to pay into police and fire pensions.

But Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) says it is all happening too fast - and he has questions about the company the city chose that ultimately led to the mayor's endorsement of Bally's.

"Union Gaming was contracted to provide projections for us; financial analysis," Reilly asked officials. "Who checked their homework?"

"Ultimately, Union Gaming Analytics - which provides us our revenue forecasts - have done work with all three bidders in the past," said city Chief Financial Officer Jennie Bennett. "It's a very small niche market."

Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) also raised reservations about how fast everything is going.

 "What is the deadline here and why the rush, on this very significant project?" Smith asked Bennett.

"The faster we get to this, the faster we can get to the revenues," Bennett replied.

Questions are also brewing in particular about how the Medinah Temple was selected as the site for a temporary casino. The onetime auditorium and circus venue was constructed by the Shriners fraternal organization in 1912, and housed a Bloomingdales Furniture store from 2003 until 2020. It has been vacant since then, and the city says filling the empty space is a priority.

"It's tough to be a retailer in cities because of so many trends and pandemic made it difficult," said Chicago Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar. "Vacancy begets vacancy, and we must activate the Medinah Temple."

As neighbors of the site raising property value concerns, Bally's on Monday announced partnerships with The Second City for entertainment, and with West Loop restauranters The Publican and Avec for dining for the $1.7 billion project.

Bally's is also planning on 30 traffic improvement projects. They include adding new traffic signals for entry roads going east from Halsted Street just south of Chicago Avenue, and going south from Chicago Avenue just east of Halsted Street. New signals are also planned for entry roads that run north from Grand Avenue east of Halsted Street.

Also planned is the modernization of traffic signals directly at Halsted Street and Chicago Avenue, and also at Halsted and Erie streets and at Milwaukee Avenue, Ogden Avenue, and Chicago Avenue to the west.

There are also plans for new pedestrian signals at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street; Grand Avenue at Halsted Street, Desplaines Street, and Jefferson Street; and Halsted and Superior streets.

The casino operator is also planning crowdfunding, where Chicagoans can buy fractional ownership of the facility.

"We are committing the full faith and credit of our corporation. People can walk by and say, 'Hey, I own a piece of that,' in denominations as low as $250," Bally's Board Chairman Soohyung Kim said in the Zoom meeting. "We are turning this into a security, so it will be an SEC registered security."

Some City Council members said they expected to be ready to vote on the casino plan in the next two weeks. But Reilly reemphasized that he believes the small pieces of a billion-dollar project are moving too fast.

"The last time we were given less than two weeks to vet and approve a deal, it blew up in our faces - and it was called the parking meter deal," he said.

The parking meter deal came around in December 2008 under Mayor Richard M. Daley. The city leased its parking meters to Chicago Parking Meters LLC in a 75-year deal for about $1.16 billion in a move that has been controversial ever since.

The city says the reason they are pushing this so hard is that after City Hall, the state gaming board still needs to weigh in - and they would like to be able to use those Bally's dollars for next budget year.

In:
• Brendan Reilly
• Lori Lightfoot
• Casino