Latest news with #GamingBoard
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Hollywood Casino Joliet set to open earlier than expected
A new Chicago-area casino is getting ready to open this summer – months ahead of schedule. Hollywood Casino Joliet, which is leaving its longtime riverboat home, announced Wednesday it is planning to move into its new land-based facility Aug. 11, pending regulatory approval. 'The countdown to the opening of our newest casino begins today,' Jay Snowden, Penn Entertainment's CEO and president, said in a news release. 'The move from our existing riverboat significantly improves our offerings in the highly attractive Chicagoland market, and both our existing customers and new guests will be able to enjoy premier gaming, dining, and entertainment at this exceptionally accessible new location.' Construction is nearing completion on the new $185 million Hollywood Casino Joliet in the Rock Run Collection, a sprawling 310-acre mixed-use development adjacent to the Interstate 80 and Interstate 55 interchange. The facility will feature expanded gaming, with 1,000 slots, 43 table games, a retail sportsbook, a 10,000-square-foot event center and restaurants. The casino, which broke ground in December 2023, was initially projected to open at the end of this year. Penn is also building a new land-based entertainment complex for Hollywood Casino Aurora, which is slated to open next year. The $360 million facility is going up near I-88 and Chicago Premium Outlets mall and will include 1,200 gaming positions, a 220-room hotel, a retail sportsbook, a spa, an outdoor entertainment area, a 12,000-square-foot event center and restaurants. Both casinos will offer new Italian restaurants in partnership with Giada De Laurentiis, and food halls featuring the first suburban locations for Antique Taco and Pretty Cool Ice Cream, as well as Lucky Goat, a new burger restaurant by celebrity chef Stephanie Izard. The restaurants are expected to open in time to feed the first gamblers at Hollywood Casino Joliet in August, pending approval by the Illinois Gaming Board, a Penn spokesperson said. Launched in the 1990s when the state legalized riverboat casinos, both Joliet and Aurora are still operating as permanently moored barges on the Des Plaines and Fox rivers, respectively. The state's sweeping 2019 gambling expansion bill, which added everything from six new casinos to sports betting, allowed all casinos to be built on or moved to dry land. Rivers Des Plaines became the first to convert to a land-based casino, paying a $250,000 Gaming Board fee in 2020 to expand beyond an underground pool on which it was built. The state's newer casinos, including Bally's Chicago, Wind Creek Chicago Southland and Hard Rock Rockford, are all land-based. Rivers Casino Des Plaines was once again the state's top casino in April with $43.9 million in adjusted gross receipts, followed by newcomer Wind Creek, which hit a new high with $17.1 million in revenue, according to Gaming Board data. Wind Creek, owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, launched in its permanent 70,000-square-foot casino in south suburban East Hazel Crest in November. Last month, it opened a 255-room hotel. In May 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally's was selected to build the Chicago casino at the site of the former Tribune printing plant in River West, a $1.7 billion proposal that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions. The casino is expected to open in September 2026. Work was temporarily halted May 1 after the Gaming Board discovered the construction project was using an unauthorized subcontracted waste hauler previously alleged to have had ties to organized crime. The agency gave Bally's Chicago the green light to resume construction May 15 with a new vendor vetting and disclosure process in place. Bally's, which has been operating a temporary casino at Medinah Temple since September 2023, was ranked fifth among the state's 16 full casinos with $11 million in adjusted gross receipts last month, according to data from the Gaming Board. Hollywood Casino Aurora ranked eighth in revenue during April at $8.3 million and Hollywood Casino Joliet was 10th at $7.1 million, according to Gaming Board data. rchannick@
Chicago Tribune
28-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
New Hollywood Casino Joliet set to open earlier than expected
A new Chicago-area casino is getting ready to open this summer – months ahead of schedule. Hollywood Casino Joliet, which is leaving its longtime riverboat home, announced Wednesday it is planning to move into its new land-based facility on Aug. 11, pending regulatory approval. 'The countdown to the opening of our newest casino begins today,' Jay Snowden, Penn Entertainment's CEO and president, said in a news release. 'The move from our existing riverboat significantly improves our offerings in the highly attractive Chicagoland market, and both our existing customers and new guests will be able to enjoy premier gaming, dining, and entertainment at this exceptionally accessible new location.' Construction is nearing completion on the new $185 million Hollywood Casino Joliet in the Rock Run Collection, a sprawling 310-acre mixed-use development adjacent to the Interstate 80 and Interstate 55 interchange. The facility will feature expanded gaming, with 1,000 slots, 43 table games, a retail sportsbook, a 10,000-square-foot event center and restaurants. The casino, which broke ground in December 2023, was initially projected to open at the end of this year. Penn is also building a new land-based entertainment complex for Hollywood Casino Aurora, which is slated to open next year. The $360 million facility is going up near I-88 and Chicago Premium Outlets mall and will include 1,200 gaming positions, a 220-room hotel, a retail sportsbook, a spa, an outdoor entertainment area, a 12,000-square-foot event center and restaurants. Both casinos will offer new Italian restaurants in partnership with Giada De Laurentiis, and food halls featuring the first suburban locations for Antique Taco and Pretty Cool Ice Cream, as well as Lucky Goat, a new burger restaurant by celebrity chef Stephanie Izard. The restaurants are expected to open in time to feed the first gamblers at Hollywood Casino Joliet in August, pending approval by the Illinois Gaming Board, a Penn spokesperson said. Launched in the 1990s when the state legalized riverboat casinos, both Joliet and Aurora are still operating as permanently moored barges on the Des Plaines and Fox rivers, respectively. The state's sweeping 2019 gambling expansion bill, which added everything from six new casinos to sports betting, allowed all casinos to be built on or moved to dry land. Rivers Des Plaines became the first to convert to a land-based casino, paying a $250,000 Gaming Board fee in 2020 to expand beyond an underground pool on which it was built. The state's newer casinos, including Bally's Chicago, Wind Creek Chicago Southland and Hard Rock Rockford, are all land-based. Rivers Casino Des Plaines was once again the state's top casino in April with $43.9 million in adjusted gross receipts, followed by newcomer Wind Creek, which hit a new high with $17.1 million in revenue, according to Gaming Board data. Wind Creek, owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, launched in its permanent 70,000-square-foot casino in south suburban East Hazel Crest in November. Last month, it opened a 255-room hotel. In May 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally's was selected to build the Chicago casino at the site of the former Tribune printing plant in River West, a $1.7 billion proposal that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions. The casino is expected to open in September 2026. Work was temporarily shut down May 1 after the Gaming Board discovered the construction project was using an unauthorized subcontracted waste hauler previously alleged to have had ties to organized crime. The agency gave Bally's Chicago the green light to resume construction May 15 with a new vendor vetting and disclosure process in place. Bally's, which has been operating a temporary casino at Medinah Temple since September 2023, was ranked fifth among the state's 16 full casinos with $11 million in adjusted gross receipts last month, according to data from the Gaming Board. Hollywood Casino Aurora ranked eighth in revenue during April at $8.3 million and Hollywood Casino Joliet was 10th at $7.1 million, according to Gaming Board data. rchannick@
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bally's Chicago gets green light from Gaming Board to resume construction
The Illinois Gaming Board has given Bally's Chicago the green light to resume building its permanent casino after a two-week stop work order over an unauthorized waste hauler at the River West site. Construction is expected to start up again Thursday on the planned $1.7 billion casino complex at the former Tribune printing plant site, with a refined vendor vetting process in place, the Rhode Island-based casino company said. 'We were informed today by IGB that construction on the Bally's site will begin on Thursday, May 15th,' Bally's Chairman Soo Kim said in a statement Wednesday. 'We appreciate the collaboration and support of IGB throughout this process and look forward to delivering this project to Chicago.' Work ground to a halt May 1 after the Gaming Board discovered that the construction project was using an unauthorized subcontracted waste hauler previously alleged to have had ties to organized crime. D&P Construction, a Melrose Park company that provided dumpsters used at the 30-acre site, was hired by the Chicago Community Builders Collective, a minority-led general contracting partnership constructing the permanent casino complex. The dumpsters were removed May 2, and following an investigation, the Gaming Board said Wednesday that Bally's Chicago agreed to full vendor disclosure, satisfying the agency's concerns enough to move forward with construction. 'Presently, no vendors are working on the casino construction project without IGB approval,' the Gaming Board said in a statement. 'Bally's addressed the disclosure failures. It has disclosed, and assured the ongoing disclosure of, all proposed vendors to the IGB.' In 2005, D&P's alleged ties to organized crime were among the factors cited in a Gaming Board investigation that led to the license revocation of the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont, where the construction firm did work at the planned casino site. The license went instead to Rivers Casino Des Plaines, which launched in 2011 and grew to be the state's top-grossing casino. D&P's involvement in the Bally's Chicago site cost the casino company two weeks of construction time, but not the license to build what will be the largest casino in the state on the sprawling industrial site along the Chicago River. In May 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally's was selected to build the Chicago casino, besting finalists Rivers Casino and Hard Rock with a proposal that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions. Demolition of the Freedom Center printing plant was completed earlier this year. In February, Bally's began driving foundational caissons into the ground, with executives targeting a September 2026 opening for the permanent casino. Bally's, which has been operating a temporary casino at Medinah Temple since September 2023, was ranked fifth among the state's 16 full casinos with $11 million in adjusted gross receipts last month, according to data from the Gaming Board. Rivers Casino Des Plaines was once again the state's top casino in April with $43.9 million in adjusted gross receipts, followed by newcomer Wind Creek Chicago Southland, which hit a new high with $17.1 million in revenue, according to Gaming Board data. Wind Creek, owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, launched in its permanent 70,000 square foot casino in south suburban East Hazel Crest in November. Last month, it opened a 255-room hotel. rchannick@
Chicago Tribune
14-05-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Bally's Chicago gets green light from Gaming Board to resume construction
The Illinois Gaming Board has given Bally's Chicago the green light to resume building its permanent casino after a two-week stop work order over an unauthorized waste hauler at the River West site. Construction is expected to start up again Thursday on the planned $1.7 billion casino complex at the former Tribune printing plant site, with a refined vendor vetting process in place, the Rhode Island-based casino company said. 'We were informed today by IGB that construction on the Bally's site will begin on Thursday, May 15th,' Bally's Chairman Soo Kim said in a statement Wednesday. 'We appreciate the collaboration and support of IGB throughout this process and look forward to delivering this project to Chicago.' Work ground to a halt May 1 after the Gaming Board discovered that the construction project was using an unauthorized subcontracted waste hauler previously alleged to have had ties to organized crime. D&P Construction, a Melrose Park company that provided dumpsters used at the site, was hired by the Chicago Community Builders Collective, a minority-led general contracting partnership constructing the permanent casino complex. The dumpsters were removed May 2, and following an investigation, the Gaming Board said Wednesday that Bally's Chicago agreed to full vendor disclosure, satisfied the agency's concerns enough to move forward with construction. 'Presently, no vendors are working on the casino construction project without IGB approval,' the Gaming Board said in a statement. 'Bally's addressed the disclosure failures. It has disclosed, and assured the ongoing disclosure of, all proposed vendors to the IGB.' In 2005, D&P's alleged ties to organized crime were among the factors cited in a Gaming Board investigation that led to the license revocation of the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont, where the construction firm did work at the planned casino site. The license went instead to Rivers Casino Des Plaines, which launched in 2011 and grew to be the state's top-grossing casino. D&P's involvement in the Bally's Chicago site cost the casino company two weeks of construction time, but not the license to build what will be the largest casino in the state on a 30-acre site along the Chicago River. In May 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally's was selected to build the Chicago casino, besting finalists Rivers Casino and Hard Rock with a proposal that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions. Demolition of the Freedom Center printing plant was completed earlier this year. In February, Bally's began driving foundational caissons into the ground, with executives targeting a September 2026 opening for the permanent casino. Bally's, which has been operating a temporary casino at Medinah Temple since September 2023, was ranked fifth among the state's 16 full casinos with $11 million in adjusted gross receipts last month, according to data from the Gaming Board. Rivers Casino Des Plaines was once again the state's top casino in April with $43.9 million in adjusted gross receipts, followed by newcomer Wind Creek Chicago Southland, which hit a new high with $17.1 million in revenue, according to Gaming Board data. Wind Creek, owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, launched in its permanent 70,000 square foot casino in south suburban East Hazel Crest in November. Last month, it opened a 255-room hotel. rchannick@
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gaming Board stops construction at Bally's Chicago casino site over unauthorized waste hauler
The Illinois Gaming Board issued a stop work order Thursday at the planned Bally's Chicago casino site in River West after it was discovered that the construction project was using an unauthorized subcontracted waste hauler previously alleged to have had ties to organized crime. D&P Construction, a Melrose Park company which provided dumpsters used at the 30-acre site, was hired by the Chicago Community Builders Collective, a minority-led general contracting partnership constructing Bally's Chicago $1.7 billion permanent casino complex. 'Today we were informed by IGB that the contractors working on the Bally's Chicago site were utilizing an unapproved vendor and were issued a stop work notice,' a Bally's spokesperson said in a statement Thursday evening. 'We appreciate the diligence and action of IGB. This is the process at work. We look forward to working with the IGB to eliminate the possibility of it happening again.' The use of D&P Construction dumpsters at the Bally's Chicago site was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, which alerted the Gaming Board this week, precipitating the stop work order. The Gaming Board confirmed the stop work order Thursday, without naming the specific vendor. 'The Illinois Gaming Board issued an order to cease construction work on the Bally's Chicago permanent casino in connection with a pending IGB investigation into the use of undisclosed and unapproved vendors at the construction site,' the state agency said in a statement. 'The IGB is investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the use of vendors at the permanent casino construction site. The IGB takes these matters seriously, and it will take appropriate action to maintain integrity and safety following the completion of the investigation.' In 2005, D&P's alleged ties to organized crime were among the factors cited in a Gaming Board investigation that led to the license revocation of the proposed Emerald Casino in Rosemont, where the construction firm did work at the planned casino site. The license went instead to Rivers Casino Des Plaines, which launched in 2011 and grew to be the state's top-grossing casino. Efforts to reach D&P for comment Thursday evening were unsuccessful. In May 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally's was selected to build the Chicago casino, besting finalists Rivers Casino and Hard Rock with a proposal that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions. The stop work order is the latest setback for Bally's Chicago and its planned casino complex at the former site of the Chicago Tribune printing plant along the Chicago River. Bally's, which has been operating a temporary casino at Medinah Temple since September 2023, navigated a one-month demolition stoppage in December after construction debris from the remnants of the Freedom Center, once the largest newspaper printing plant in North America, spilled into the river. In February, Bally's began driving foundational caissons into the ground, with casino executives reiterating the permanent casino still was targeted for a September 2026 opening. It remains to be seen if the Gaming Board-imposed work stoppage will affect construction timing. rchannick@
