The Bally’s Casino hotel tower is starting to sprout upward, as construction crews from The Chicago Community Builders Collective continue their work on the 34-story, 500-room hotel in River West.
The Chicago Community Builders Collective is a joint venture of contractors that includes Gilbane Building Company, Brown & Momen Inc., d’Escoto Inc., Milhouse, Powers & Sons Construction, SQN Associations, Ujamaa Construction Inc., and Riteway-Huggins Construction Inc. McHugh Concrete is the concrete contractor. That large team is very much needed, as the hotel and its conjoined casino are expected to open in December 2026.

Rendering of Bally’s Chicago Casino and hotel tower by HKS
A photo gallery of construction progress taken September 28, 2025:

The tower is beginning to show from West Erie Street in River North. Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell

Cars drive by on the Ohio Street feeder ramp. Photo by Daniel Schell

Photo by Daniel Schell
Traveling to have a look at construction progress for yourself? Keep in mind that Halsted Street and Chicago Avenue are now closed on the west and north boundaries of the construction site for the rebuilding of the Halsted Street viaduct and the Chicago Avenue bridge over the river.
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Very exciting, those train tracks appear abandoned, anyone knows if it’ll remain once the casino complex is open ?
I’ve been under the impression that the development to the west of the casino but east of Halsted, as depicted in the rendering, would require removal of the tracks. That’s assuming the full site is completed.
No the ROW is meant to remain in place. That complex would be built straddling it.
Its been a long term plan to remove tracks and make it a road or path to Kingsbury
Thanks for all the photojournalism