Wind Creek opens hotel Friday at Chicago-area's fastest growing casino
The nascent Wind Creek Chicago Southland, which continues to gain ground as the state's fastest-growing casino, is upping the ante Friday with the soft opening of its 255-room hotel.
Guests can book reservations online for the inaugural weekend at the relatively lofty south suburban hotel, starting at $389 per night, according to the website. Choices range from a tidy 350-square-foot room to the expansive Ultra Suite, which will set you back more than $1,500 for a night of high-rolling luxury overlooking the Tri-State Tollway cloverleaf interchange in East Hazel Crest.
While it may be a long way from Las Vegas, Wind Creek, owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, opened its permanent, 70,000 square foot gambling palace in November, and quickly established itself as the second busiest casino in Illinois.
In March, Wind Creek hit new highs with nearly $16.9 million in adjusted gross receipts – up 25% month-over-month – and drew more than 219,000 visitors, according to data from the Illinois Gaming Board.
Overall, the state's 16 casinos generated $170.9 million in adjusted gross receipts and welcomed 1.39 million visitors last month, both figures up by more than 21% over February.
Rivers Casino Des Plaines once again topped the list, at $43.7 million in adjusted gross receipts and 260,000 visitors in March, according to the Gaming Board. Hard Rock Rockford, which moved from a temporary casino to a larger permanent facility in August, ranked third, with $13.1 million in adjusted gross receipts and 129,000 admissions.
The development of new casino facilities is clearly paying off big for the state. Casino revenue in the first quarter of 2025 grew 11.7% to more than $456 million, with about 3.7 million admissions, a 23% increase.
But nearly all of that growth has come from Wind Creek and the new permanent casino at Hard Rock Rockford during the first quarter. Wind Creek generated $43.6 million in revenue – all new money – and Hard Rock nearly doubled to $35.6 million.
Rivers Casino remained on top with $120 million in revenue, but that was down 7.8% from the first quarter of 2024, according to Gaming Board data. Most Chicago-area casinos showed year-over-year revenue declines in the first quarter as the new players gained market share.
Bally's Chicago ranked sixth in revenue among the state's casinos with $29 million during the first quarter, a 4% year-over-year decline. It ranked fourth in admissions at about 310,000, roughly flat compared with 2024. Bally's generated $2.95 million in local taxes for Chicago in the first quarter, according to Gaming Board data. That's $100,000 behind last year's pace, which produced $16 million in tax revenue for the city — about half of the city's projected goal.
Longer term, Chicago is counting on Bally's to create a tourist magnet and profit center, generating $200 million in projected local annual gaming tax revenue. The city and Bally's are banking on the development of a planned $1.7 billion permanent casino to significantly boost revenue and admissions next year.
Bally's Chicago, which opened a temporary facility at Medinah Temple in September 2023, has broken ground on the entertainment complex at the site of the former Chicago Tribune printing plant in River West. The proposal includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions — twice that of any other casino in the state.
Last year, Bally's had to relocate its planned hotel tower from north to south of the casino after it was determined that driving caissons into the ground might damage municipal water pipes along the Chicago River.
The target date for opening the permanent Bally's casino and hotel is September 2026. A spokesperson for Rhode Island-based Bally's said there are no new updates on the development's progress Monday.
Meanwhile, the future begins Friday at Wind Creek, whose new hotel amenities will include a spa, indoor pool, fitness center, restaurants, bars and event space. While not nearly as ambitious as the proposed Bally's Chicago facility, the Wind Creek casino and hotel nonetheless has a big head start in turning the south suburbs into a gambling hotspot.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
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One of our core philosophies at Creative Group is called 49/51. The 49 is reference to the percent of any given role that is focused on the skills it takes to be technically excellent at your job and serving our clients. The 51, the larger of the percentages, is focused on building trust and relationships with each other and our customers. Culture is an amplifier of performance. This balanced approach of human-centric values alongside operational excellence helps people see the impact they're making, and that's what drives results. My focus is creating an all-around culture that inspires people. What skills have you developed that have helped you grow into the leader you are today? We all lead from who we authentically are on the inside. Therefore, you have to invest in yourself and make sure you have outside influences to provide guardrails in who you are as a leader. Two things I've done are invest in therapy to stay grounded and do the inner work that keeps me self-aware. I also have an executive coach who I trust to be fully transparent and brutally honest with me. It's also important to remain a student of leadership. Retaining that deep curiosity has allowed me to develop over my career and continues today. As a leader, what are the challenges that keep you up at night? At a macro level, it's the consistent effort to balance culture with performance targets. I've done my best to be intentional and balance the tradeoffs that have to be made. Being financially successful allows us to invest further in the culture that has made us successful. Keeping that balance is the biggest challenge that I face on a daily basis. Which female leaders have inspired Traphagen the most? Within the event planning industry, Christie Hicks, when she was at Starwood, was fearless and iconic. She was one of the few female senior leaders in the industry earlier in my career and was someone who inspired me. Outside the industry, I recently had the chance to hear Jane Fonda speak at a women's conference, and she was incredible. At 87, she's still an activist and showing up to share her perspective with others. She was incredibly inspiring. The whole crowd was blown away. At the end, the standing ovation just would not stop. And we were all looking around each ther, thinking, 'life goals.' How has mentoring helped you become the leader you are today? One of the more unconventional forms of mentorship came from a customer. She was more senior than me and had a knack for giving me feedback right between the eyes. She reminded me to take care of myself and gave very honest feedback on the events we provided to her. It was a relationship I really valued and helped me grow as a leader. How has your leadership style changed throughout your career? My leadership style has evolved a lot over the years. Early on, I naturally leaned toward helping and supporting others, seeing leadership as collaboration and service. Over time, I realized I needed to define leadership on my own terms, not just accept the traditionally masculine, hierarchical model that's been the standard for so long. I've really come to embrace what I call finding the 'third way '— leading from a place that honors both masculine and feminine energies. I can be decisive and analytical, but also deeply empathic and nurturing. I've learned to integrate both, rather than pick sides or accept a limited definition. Ultimately, my leadership journey has been about finding the confidence to lead authentically, blending these energies, and focusing on what's truly effective and human, rather than conforming to old models. Can you share advice for aspiring women leaders in meetings? Find your people, whether that's a therapist, a coach, authentic friends, or healthy relationships, where honesty is prioritized. These connections help you keep perspective on how you're showing up in the world and keep you grounded. Stay aware of how others experience you. I often ask new managers, 'How do you think others are experiencing you?' It's a powerful way to build self-awareness and empathy. As a leader, your voice carries weight. So being conscious of that influence is essential. Invest in your growth and lead with awareness of the responsibility that comes with leadership. What does leadership mean to Traphagen? The first word that comes to mind is privilege. It is a privilege to lead and have the opportunity to influence a team of people. It also comes with a deep responsibility. Words matter, energy matters and decisions matter. It's not something to take lightly. As leaders, we hold the head and heart of our teams and get the opportunity to grow, inspire and celebrate with them. At Creative Group, we heavily invest in leadership training at all levels because it is so important to our success as a business. The alignment created throughout our organization builds the positive culture that makes a difference for our employees and our customers.
