CHICAGO | City Casino

[dreamy-developer]

A Demolition Notice has been made with a public meeting set for this Friday on June 14th for the official demo of the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center.

Estimated to take about 5 months to complete.

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...on_English.pdf

[twister244]

While the temporary casino continues to slowly grow, it's still way under performing and even Johnson has doubts now. Get ready for a vacant lot on the former Tribune site..... Unless something changes soon.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-ha...rs-stadium-cta

By the numbers:

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/gamb...evenue-numbers

[ardecila]

5 whole months to clear that site? I guess the machinery inside might have some resale value but the building itself is a just a steel shed with a brick veneer. The new city regulations probably mean they have to take it down one stick at a time though.

[gandalf612]

Originally Posted by ardecila

5 whole months to clear that site? I guess the machinery inside might have some resale value but the building itself is a just a steel shed with a brick veneer. The new city regulations probably mean they have to take it down one stick at a time though.

Good! It's on the river which is recovering beautifully. They shouldn't be allowed to put that at risk with a rushed botched demo job.

[west-town-brad]

the temporary casino at Medina Temple will become the only permanent casino in the city. RW is not going to happen. the market is just too saturated at this point and with sports books coming to the various stadiums and online options there is just not enough market demand.

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

the temporary casino at Medina Temple will become the only permanent casino in the city. RW is not going to happen. the market is just too saturated at this point and with sports books coming to the various stadiums and online options there is just not enough market demand.

I think this is a fine outcome, to be honest. Hopefully they can invest in making Medinah feel more permanent – no folding tables at entryways, dining areas that don't feel like mall food courts, etc. I wish there was a more design-savvy operator who was capable of creating a Monte-Carlo kind of vibe.

[Handro]

Honestly I was hoping Medina would become the permanent casino. Great location, small footprint, and potential to be a really cool urban casino that a wider swath of visitors might be interested to visit. Make it nicer, add some hospitality spaces (both upscale and down) and it could become an actual attraction for tourists and business travelers. A giant Bally's complex has a much narrower draw, IMO. We have enough lame river casinos in Chicagoland.

[west-town-brad]

^

another positive of the medina temple location is that all of that now-undesired-vacant Bloomingdales retail space is absorbed by the casino operation

since the whole block is a collection of historic buildings, this location could grow over time into an interesting historic urban casino as others have mentioned above

[ardecila]

The problem with Medinah is that there's no obvious room for expansion. It's a historic landmarked building and all the surrounding blocks are fully built-out with successful restaurants, parking garages, hotels and condos.

The other problem is that Medinah isn't exactly printing money. The revenue is getting better but it's still way short of projections, so I doubt Bally's even wants to expand in that location where they can't have on-site parking, hotel, dining or entertainment.

The landmark building is actually kind of a drag for them, I think Landmarks review will not let them do more elaborate interior design that would compete with the original architecture. I've heard anecdotally from a lot of people that it just feels crappy and barebones right now. Which is kind of a shame, I think a Steve Wynn style interior would be a great fit there...

[iguy]

Curious if any of the other finalists would consider bidding again if it were opened back up; the lackluster performance of Medinah thus far might dissuade that, but perhaps the pitch could be made that a smaller River North location is not representative of the profitability of a project at the scale of what has been envisioned for River West?

[k1052]

The temp casino buildout feels cheap and low rent. Walked through it last time in town and I would not want to spend any time there. Feels like a perfect storm of not wanting to spend too much on it because its temp but coming up way short of the pro forma could scuttle the prospects of the larger facility.

[JK47]

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote...Proj-47371020/

Looks like the project is back on. Financing, including $940 in construction financing and additional funding totally $2.07 billion, has been secured and a revised single phase proposal has been submitted.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by JK47

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote...Proj-47371020/

Looks like the project is back on. Financing, including $940 in construction financing and additional funding totally $2.07 billion, has been secured and a revised single phase proposal has been submitted.

This is great news. Didn't see this one happening at all given the litany of bad news concerning this project as of late!

[Randomguy34]

The new architect is HKS, it's certainly an upgrade from the old design


https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/...-hotel-design/

Edit: Bally's website has several more renderings, this is a much wider tower than the first rendering would make you believe




https://casinos.ballys.com/chicago/renderings.htm

[ardecila]

Hmm, not bad. It still looks like pretty safe convention center architecture but it's better than the weird Snohetta-lite thing they were proposing before, and it doesn't have that weird 2-story hotel turd on the top. There's a lot of glass, which always helps.

I can't really tell from the renderings but it looks like they have moved the porte-cochere. That suburban-style dropoff plaza was the worst thing about the earlier designs, especially right on Chicago Ave. I'm not sure if it's pushed further south (close to the hotel) or if they tucked it under the building, which would be the ideal.

[Klippenstein]

The hotel will have better views of the city in that location. I liked the plaza tucked in between the buildings better, but maybe having it right next to the feeder ramp will mean they're more likely to fully utilize the space underneath it.

[lakeshoredrive]

Looks like it’s around 400 ft tall?

[nomarandlee]

It seems the tower may be a bit shorter than the original, but overall from the zoomed-out renders it looks x5 better!

Completely unexpected and exciting development.

[iguy]

Hats off to whoever made this happen. Firstly in that we're still getting this at all, and secondly in that they actually improved the design.

Perhaps this helps provide some insurance for the other residential towers that have been planned in the northern part of West Loop/River West? Hopefully shores up the momentum for the greater area.

[Steely Dan]

Thank God they got rid of the "Welcome to our casino. For some stupid-ass reason, we decided to build a Motel 6 on the roof of it".

Bullet dodged.