During a City Council meeting on Wednesday, first steps toward the development of a new casino for the City of Chicago with consent on the selection of an independent consultant to perform an economic feasibility study were announced. This study is required under the recently enacted legislation prior to developing, commissioning and operating a new casino in Chicago. Chicago’s first-ever casino will create a dedicated new revenue stream for the City of Chicago. The study will analyze the economic viability of a Chicago casino within the legislative framework established by the new legislation.  The third-party expert, with experience in regulations, operations, and gaming industry economics, will evaluate all relevant factors and report to the Illinois Gaming Board, the Illinois General Assembly, and the City of Chicago.

Union Gaming was selected through a procurement led by the Illinois Gaming Board and consented to by the City of Chicago. The Illinois Gambling Act requires the Illinois Gaming Board to select a consultant with the City’s consent within ten days of the bill becoming law. The consultant then has 45 days to complete its revenue forecast and to deliver its findings to the state and the city. The feasibility study will evaluate the impact of various sites to determine the impact on finance-ability, however this process is not designed to select a site. The City has submitted five sites to be tested, each of which has been previously considered for a prospective casino or other major development in the past, and are largely comprised of publicly owned land. The sites include: Harborside (111th and the Bishop Ford Freeway); the former Michael Reese hospital (31st and Cottage Grove); Pershing & State; Roosevelt & Kostner; and the former U.S. Steel parcel (80th and Lake Shore Dr).