Initial financing and updated renderings have been revealed for the upcoming Bally’s permanent Chicago casino at 777 W Chicago Avenue in River West. Sitting just east of the intersection with N Halsted Street, the project will replace the former Chicago Tribune site which received demolition permits recently. The casino has been in the making for a few years and led by Bally’s with a large design team including Dallas-based firm HKS Architects.
Rendering of temporary casino at the Medinah Temple via Bally’s
While Bally’s temporary casino is already in full swing within the Medinah Temple in River North, the company has been grappling in the last few months with a funding gap and lower than expected revenue from the temporary casino. This came at the same time the team revealed the original location for the hotel tower on the north-end was unsuitable, switching to a small two-story addition on top of the casino.
New rendering of Bally’s casino by HKS
However the company has now lined up $940 million in financing according to Crain’s, once again revising plans for the permanent casino. The new design brings extensive changes to property; the previously announced 100-room rooftop hotel addition has been removed with the main casino structure moving north, receiving an updated exterior with rounded corners and angled roofs.
New rendering of Bally’s casino by HKS
The main casino is now sliced by a long linear roof, with additional windows placed around it. This element continues into the reintroduced hotel tower on the southern end of the property, set to rise 34 stories tall and containing the required 500 hotel rooms. Because of this, the park south of the tower also received a redesign with additional greenery along the riverwalk.
Initial (top) – Temporary (middle) – New (bottom) plans of Bally’s casino
The hotel tower will feature a pool deck on top of the casino and a large rooftop deck facing the city. The massive casino will still feature some of its major anchors like a 3,000-seat theater, six restaurants and a food hall, cafes, and various other common spaces. It will also be supported by over 2,500 vehicle parking spaces if no changes have been made.
Initial (left) – Temporary (Center) – New (right) site plans of Bally’s casino
With a total price tag of $1.7 billion, the $940 million come from Pennsylvania-based Gaming & Leisure Properties (GLP). With this deal the casino will be fully sold to GLP and leased back to Bally’s, similar to what the casino operator did with various other properties in order to generate an additional $395 million in funds. With funding secured, the revised project will need city approval with demolition on the site starting soon.
Bally’s still claims it will open the permanent facility in 2026 per city requirement.
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Just DO IT already! Pleaaaaaaase!!!
The transportation aspect is still far from flushed, but the entertainment component in relation to River North and food in West Loop is why I feel this location was best for the casino.
The South Loop is just not built to handle the riff raff. And the 78 land shouldn’t be wasted on this boondoggle.
What’s good about the Tribune site, it’s kinda out of the way of most things (disregarding traffic), but still close enough to be in the hub of it all. It won’t impede on residences all that much since there’s really nothing there to begin with. Once this new district gets underway, the area’s pedestrian access/experience will flourish. The traffic is going to get so bad that people will be forced to embrace other forms of transportation that will probably consist of walking and biking and especially the water taxi. I’m ok with the gridlock. It forces your butt to get out of the car and be more interactive with the city.
The logistics are still severely unaccounted for by city hall. They are snowballing a coming disaster that showing no initiative of wanting to fix. The dumb current mayor can’t stop blaming past mayors for his own negligence. Stop pointing fingers and maybe act like you somewhat care?
I wanna see dirt being moved, jobs created, and new life bursting off the seams of the river. Maybe the trainwreck of planning will find its own way.
I like your take! The new design is light years ahead of previous iterations.
If the purpose of the casino is to get non-citizens to play and lose so the city gets taxes dollars on the profits, wouldn’t it be wise to place this where there are a lot of tourists, like the current location is??
This is being plopped in the middle of a residential area with limited ways to get there. Tourists are not going to be walking there from Michigan Ave. The parking lot south of Nordstrom or on Mich Ave, now that it is mostly a ghost town, would be better places for this. No need for hotel or theater as the city has lots of them.
Disclaimer: The tribune site has not affect on me so i am not writing this as a nimby, just someone who wants to see it reach the full potential of tax dollars.
Originally, there was no option of the Loop or Michigan Ave.
The adaptive reuse of the temporary casino was a conditional agreement Lightfoot snuck in post-corrupted selection process.
I agree having that casino closer to the action of Michigan Ave would’ve been a major catalyst. But after some time passing, has the temporary casino done much for the area? I don’t actually know and have no data to form an opinion. All I know is the initial profits have been lower than expected.
The final scheme will allow for more services and entertainment options provided. The adaptive reuse is limited by the historic structure and neighborhood to think more out-the-box.
> the entertainment component in relation to River North and food in West Loop is why I feel this location was best for the casino.
This is a really good observation, and I’m surprised I didn’t see this angle pushed back when the decision was made. it may be somewhat isolated right now, but if Chicago and Halsted really kicks off, it’s going to expand southward and eventually link up with the West Loop. Eastward is a little harder, but maybe there’s a way to link Halsted with Wells and Michigan Ave via a better alternative to the 66 bus.
Once this and the Halsted Point/Halsted Landing are built out, they really should build a new Metra stop for the UP-N/UP-NW on Chicago Ave. I’m not sure the feasibility of doing to, it doesn’t look like there is a lot of land alongside the existing tracks, but it’ll be massively beneficial for these developments
I feel like on a project that is going to elicit such a wide array of opinions and feelings. Your take is pretty fair.
Is that an optical illusion or does the fourth pic seem taller than first pic?
This is such a nicer design than the previous proposal, will be a nice addition to the riverfront
This latest design is so much better
Both of Bally’s press releases on 7/12 mention a planned land-based Bally’s casino in State College, PA. Will GLPI be involved with financing that casino also? Why is that project currently never mentioned in the media anymore? Folks near the Nittany Mall in State College are quick to point out that the Bally’s casino won’t be near the mall as the Bally’s news releases describe the location. It will be located in a former Macy’s department store that is INSIDE the Nittany Mall. Bally’s was probably just kidding when mentioning “NEAR” the mall in every Bally’s press release for the past two years, right? How many folks have seen a brand-new casino in a shopping mall?
I must admit the latest redesign is the best one yet. And I appreciate the larger connectivity to the riverfront.
A significantly better design and urban design solution. Placing the hotel south of the casino volume and creating an active public space between them works well. Having a new architectural firm take the lead on design has clearly benefited the project, rather than maintaining the previous firms which churn out their predictable and uninspired solutions.
I guess I just can’t get onboard with a facility that will elicit people to feed their addictions, drunk driving, all awhile clogging an important thoroughfare.
Then don’t buy anything made with sugar, alcohol, weed, or caffeine.