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Bally's begins demolition of permanent Chicago casino site

Posted on: August 27, 2024, 01:10 am.

Last updated on: August 27, 2024, 01:20.

Demolition work on the Freedom Center in Chicago's River West neighborhood, where Bally's casino-hotel is located, began early Tuesday.

Bally's Chicago Casino Freedom Center
The Freedom Center in Chicago. Bally's began demolishing the site on Tuesday to make room for its permanent casino hotel. (Image: Wikimedia)

The regional casino operator entered into a $200 million sale-leaseback deal for the home of the Chicago-Tribune printing plant in November 2022. The newspaper vacated the premises in May. Rhode Island-based Bally's has been operating a temporary gaming venue in the Medinah Temple at 600 N. Wabash Ave. for about a year.

Demolition is expected to take five months, with workers working 12 hours a day, seven days a week. There are some restrictions on the demolition process. For example, no explosives will be used, excavators must adhere to a 10 mph speed limit, and in some cases, digging will be done by hand. City of Chicago health inspectors will be on site daily to ensure that excessive amounts of dust are not created.

To comply with the city's noise regulations, demolition work will be limited to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Bally's has consistently said that the permanent Chicago casino resort will open in September 2026, and that remains the plan.

Demolition work begins after Bally secures financing

Demolition of the Freedom Center begins about six weeks after Bally's announced that it had secured financing to build the integrated resort in Chicago, the operator's most expensive project to date.

Last month, the gaming company completed a series of transactions with real estate investment trust (REIT) Gaming and Leisure Properties totaling $2.07 billion, closing an $800 million financing gap in Chicago. An affiliate of the REIT bought the real estate assets associated with Bally's Chicago and will finance up to $940 million of construction costs.

The casino, the only one in the Chicago metropolitan area, will feature a 500-room hotel, six restaurants, a 3,000-seat theater and an 8,000-square-foot public park. The gaming area will feature 3,300 slot machines and 173 table games.

The hotel is to be built on the southern part of the property. Originally, the plan was to build the hotel on the northern end. However, it later emerged that this would damage the underground infrastructure. This sparked criticism that neither Bally's nor the city had properly thought through the project.

Bally's acquisition is unlikely to affect the Chicago casino's timeline

Last month, Bally accepted a takeover offer of $18.25 per share from Standard General, the hedge fund run by Soo Kim, the gaming company's chief executive. When that offer was announced earlier this year, Kim said the acceptance would not affect Bally's plans for Chicago and that he was committed to making the project a reality.

This remains the case today, and the gaming company told several Chicago press agencies that the transaction would have no impact on its plans in the city.

The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) said it was aware of the deal and was monitoring it.

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