Bally’s secures financing and redesigns casino to include hotel tower

Bally’s Corporation has announced a refreshed plan for Bally’s Chicago casino that restores the previously planned 500-room, 34-story hotel tower into a single-phase construction project at the 30-acre former Tribune Publishing site at 777 W. Chicago

With HKS Architects on board for the redesign, the future Bally’s Chicago Casino will feature its hotel tower on the southern end of the casino development near Ohio Street along the Chicago River. The hotel tower will include a large pool spa, fitness center and sun deck, as well as a rooftop restaurant bar to enjoy the Chicago skyline. Earlier this year, the hotel tower was moved due to unforeseen underground infrastructure and an adjusted design for a two-phase hotel was approved.

Bally’s Chicago Casino development will harness the beauty of the urban Chicago riverfront site to create inclusive, dynamic spaces, including plans for the 500-room hotel tower, 3,000-seat theater, six restaurants, cafes and a food hall, and a 2-acre public park. The casino will offer space for approximately 3,300 slots, 173 table games and VIP gaming areas. The lower riverbank will be connected to the property with an approximately 2,000-foot-long extension of the riverwalk extending south from W. Chicago Avenue. 

“We’ve been working hard in the background to restore the full hotel tower for Bally’s Chicago Casino and absolutely intend to meet the September 2026 opening date as planned,” said George Papanier, President of Bally’s Corporation. “We are also happy to announce that Gaming and Leisure Properties has agreed to finance this entire development in a single phase to ultimately deliver a better project in a more efficient manner.”

Bally’s and Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc (GLPI) have entered into a binding term sheet for a $940 million construction funding facility for the Chicago project, along with other financing transactions, that together GLPI expects to fund $2.07 billion to Bally’s. GLPI and Bally’s have agreed to a strategic alliance on the Chicago casino and hotel tower construction development. 

On Friday, July 5, Bally’s took possession of the former Tribune Publishing site, located at 777 W. Chicago Avenue. Brandenburg Industrial Service Company, the project’s demolition contractor, has begun preparing the site for demolition. Pending approval from DPD, the Chicago Community Builders Collective (“CCBC”), a minority-led construction partnership, is poised to implement the improved site plan and bring the Bally’s Chicago Casino vision to life.