Good morning.
The Committee on Contracts Oversight
and Equity will now come to order.
First, the item on the agenda is the roll call
to establish the quo.
Uh, vice Chair Lato.
Chairman, do Chairman Mitchell.
Chairman Harris.
I'm virtual. Okay.
Uh, Ottoman Ramirez.
Ottoman Coleman. Ottoman Taylor.
Ottman. Burnett Chairman.
Irving Chairman Taylor Farrell.
Chairman Vigas
Ottman Gardner.
It says later present via Zoom. Chairman. Okay.
Ottman. NuGen. And Chairman Mi is present.
Total members present is 10.
Um, I saw Alderman Irving in as a non-member.
We can I get a motion to accept, uh, alderman Harris
Gardner and Taylor.
And Taylor
And what I found out According to just
Like saying from cheer
According to Rule 59, can I get a motion
to accept these aldermans to join as part of the court?
So moved by Ello Farra, seconded by,
uh, vice Chair la.
All in favor signify by saying Aye. Opinion chair.
The ayes have it.
At this time, we'll have our public comment period,
and the period is limited.
30 minutes. Um,
this morning we only have one speaker, Ottoman Blake Moore.
Uh, time limit is three minutes. Um, Derman Blake Moore.
Thank you very much.
Pat. I mean, did I give you an Ottoman?
Tyler, uh, George Blakemore? No. You,
Oh my God.
I had to, you know exactly what you was doing
and thank you. Thank you.
You done did so well this morning. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I'm so glad that I'm able to speak up here this morning
with the committee that's chairman by Ultimate, Emma, mit,
and Carla is over there.
Emma MIT was, has a history with, uh, business and affair
and, uh, uh, and,
and she didn't, uh, brutalize by, by one
of the Altimas is no longer here because of her stand.
Uh, she's one. And, uh, Carla, uh,
I, I said I want her to be, uh, a chairman and,
and the head of this, uh, uh, contract
and compliance to make sure our people get more than 2%
of these contracts.
That's ridiculous.
So Carla is there trying to do the best she can and,
and tell her, Farrah, I'm gonna use another approach
with my people instead of criticizing them.
They doing the best they can.
And, and I'm doing the best I can.
Both, we got to do better.
And you know, what we have
to start doing is playing the race card.
You got that card in the deck play.
When you look at these figures and these numbers
and you see we only getting 2% or 3%, play the race card.
And if you don't play that card,
something is wrong with you.
Maybe it's a mental problem.
And when the mind is messed up, it's hard.
Uh, when, when you've been traumatized,
and even if they don't pay the race card, Mr.
Blakemore, you still got to be tolerant
because on the plantation, you know
what the white master made and it start with an end.
So even though they might be not play the race cards like
you want 'em to do, Mr.
Blakemore, you got to be tolerant
and loving and forgiven.
These are our people.
And when you know better, you do better.
They're doing the best they can.
Get all you can. Black people for black people.
Then sit on the can and keep the can and,
and increase the can.
We got to do better.
I'm gonna have to use another approach when I get up
and speak to, we shall overcome.
We must overcome the legacy of slavery.
Racism is a big problem here.
Not, don't talk about Trump, don't talk about red,
don't talk about blue.
What's the big problem here? Racism.
And play the race card
and set your black
a free, free of last.
Free of last. Our people will be free of last,
but they first gotta recognize they on this plantation.
Thank you Mr. Blakemore.
That conclude our public comments.
And we wanna thank our, uh, our speaker for today.
We gonna get started with today's agenda.
We have two items on the agenda for today.
First, again, I get a, a approval
of the Monday Rule 45 report for June
through December 20, 25
of the Committee on contracts oversighting equity.
So moved by Vice Chair las.
All in favor signify by saying, aye.
Oppose an opinion of the chairs.
The ayes have it, the report is approved.
Our second item on the agenda today is going
to be a subject matter hearing
regarding the annual hearing on the Chicago
Casino Compliance report.
There will be no vote taken at this time.
The chair will recognize the Department
of Ballet's representative.
Uh, first I'll start with re bomber from the office
of the Chief financial office,
and he will, um, then introduce the next guest
and they will continue to introduce themselves to, uh,
this committee members.
Thank you. Good morning, everybody.
Uh, my name is Rep Bower.
I'm representing the, uh,
chief Financial Officer's Office today.
Um, very, very happy to be here
and grateful for all of you who showed up today.
Good morning everyone.
My name is Lisa Lewis
and I'm assistant Commissioner with the Department
of Housing Construction Compliance and Monitoring.
Good morning everyone. Charlotte
Roberts, chief Procurement Officer
And in the box.
Good morning. William Higgins, uh, Chicago, department
of Transportation, assistant Commissioner
of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Good morning, Monica Scott, vice President
of Community Engagement Valley, Chicago.
Good morning. Ryan Coppola, vice President,
general Manager, Bally Chicago.
Good morning. Amit Patel, regional Vice President
for Bally's Corporation.
Uh, good morning. Christopher Jut, senior Vice President
of Corporate Development for Bally's.
Uh, good morning, Mike Anzel, Bally's, uh, vice President
of Project Development.
Good morning, mark Sagan,
assistant Commissioner, planning and development.
Noah Frantic, department of Planning
and Development, assistant Commissioner.
Good morning. Tom Anderson, director
of Economic Development in the Mayor's office.
Good morning. Miguel Desto,
project Executive with the CCBC.
Good
Morning. Steven Maher,
assistant Commissioner, department of Finance.
I think our first speaker is going to be, uh, Brent.
Yeah. Um, so with that, we'll get started.
Um, so good morning.
Thank you again for joining us today, uh,
for the annual hearing on the ca Chicago Casino Compliance
Reporting before the City Council Committee on
Contracting Oversight and Equity.
Um, I'd like to also give a quick thanks to Chairwoman MI
for the introduction and making sure we are all here today.
Uh, as I said, my name is Rep Bower.
I'm representing CFO's office today.
Uh, this annual hearing is required
for the establishing ordinance for the Bally Chicago Casino.
Uh, the re the, uh, relevant requirements
and policy objectives governing this reporter outlined in
the host community agreement, the HCA, uh,
between the Bally's Corporation, the City of Chicago.
Under the host Community Agreement, Bally's is required
to submit quarterly compliance reports to the city
regarding its contractual commitments.
In turn, the city is then required per the ordinance
to provide quarterly updates
to the City Council Committee on contracting oversight
and equity, and to appear
before the committee for an annual hearing
during the construction phase of the casino.
Uh, accordingly, I'm joined today by leadership, uh,
from City per City's procurement, the Department of Planning
and Development, the Department of Transportation,
the Department of Housing, to present
that annual report before this committee.
We also recently submitted the quarter 3 20 25 compliance
report to this committee on November 15th, 2025, uh,
which will be the basis for many of the numbers
provided in this presentation.
Uh, quickly to ensure we stay on time today,
we are requesting that questions be held until the end
of our presentation when possible.
Uh, so this year we've slightly adjusted
the structure of our report.
Uh, the first portion of today's presentation will focus
exclusively on compliance related to the temporary casino.
Uh, that section will include key highlights
and takeaways as well as data on admissions, revenues,
operation, jobs, and spending.
We've also included a brief overview
of Bally's outreach efforts,
and we'll provide additional details on those programs, uh,
before turning to the second half of the presentation,
which will focus entirely on progress
and compliance related to the permanent casino project.
So, as many of you're already aware,
Bally's Temporary Casino is a 34,000 square foot,
approximately $40 million build out of the Medina Temple.
It is currently hosted to, uh, it's currently hosted
to approximately 800 electronic gaming devices,
56 table games,
three restaurants, and two full service bars.
Since the temporary casino's opening on September 9th, 2023,
Bally Chicago has served over 3 million visitors, uh,
which is the second most of any casino in Illinois.
Additionally, the city has received over $87 million in
revenue from the casino that it did not have
before, including $35 million in gaming tax revenue, as well
as the initial $40 million upfront payment
and a $12 million in annual payments.
Total annual payments from Bally's.
The temporary casino has also created over
720 new permanent jobs.
74% of which are held by Chicagoans, 83% are minority,
45% are women,
and 27% of those new jobs are now are held by residents, uh,
from soc, socially
and economically disadvantaged areas of our city.
These permanent jobs are in addition to over 600
construction jobs that were required
to complete the original build out of the temporary casino.
The casino project, as of now,
is providing stable structural revenues.
In addition to delivering over 700 permanent jobs.
This will only scale with the opening of the 4,000 gaming
position, permanent casino.
So, uh, here's what we see, uh, with admissions this year.
If we can go to the next slide.
Uh, in 2025,
the temporary casino served approximately 1.3 million guests
making it the third most visited casino in Illinois.
Uh, admissions at Bally's temporary casino accounted
for roughly 13% of all Chicagoland Casino
admissions in Illinois during that period.
It's also worth noting that these admissions are associated
with the temporary facility.
The permanent casino is expected
to offer both higher capacity
and expanded amenities relative to, uh,
the current site where it's at.
Uh, moving right on to revenue and projections can move on.
Uh, so here you can see the gaming revenues, uh,
which the city is, is earned since the casino opened
in 2023.
On the right is a reference chart which outlines the taxing
structure for the Chicago casino.
Uh, to give you an idea of what portion
of all gross gaming revenues is remitted to the city,
2024 was the first full calendar year
of temporary casino operations.
During that year, the city generated
around $16 million in gaming tax revenues.
In addition to the fixed $4 million annual payment in 2025,
we've seen relatively consistent revenue performance
with the casino generating only about $200,000 less,
or about 1.3%, uh, less than last year.
When, when comparing valleys
to its peers in the Chicago casino market for 2025,
the temporary casino ranks
among the top four casinos statewide
by adjusted gross revenue.
This performance is notable given the temporary casino's
smaller footprint and more limited amenities relative
to other top grossing casinos in the market.
Several of these pure casinos such as Rivers, wind Creek,
and the Grand Victoria, operate
as full scale permanent facilities
with significantly larger footprints, uh,
than the current temporary site at the Medina Temple.
Those facilities also offer a broader range of services,
including onsite hotel services,
large scale entertainment venues,
and other quality amenities that are, uh,
not currently feasible at the temporary location.
Uh, despite these limitations,
valleys is still generating gaming revenues
that are competitive with these established flagship
casinos in the regional market.
The city will continue to monitor performance
as the project advances with the permanent casino expected
to operate at a substantially different scale, uh,
than the temporary facility.
So this chart shows the city's projected gaming tax revenues
once the permanent casino is fully operational, uh,
beginning in 2026 and ramping up
over the following 10 years.
Uh, as you can see here, revenues begin stepping up 2026
and continue until about 2028, uh,
reflecting the transition from the temporary casino
to the permanent casino with its expanded footprint,
gaming capacity, and onsite amenities.
Uh, these projections were put together as part
of the most recent gaming report, uh, commissioned
by the city, uh, early last year.
So now we will transition to the compliance, uh, more
of the compliance reporting components of this report.
Um, so I will hand that off over to Mark.
Good morning. My name is Mark Sagan,
assistant commissioner at DPD
and I will be be reporting on behalf
of Commissioner Boatwright.
The DPD compliance team has been working with Ballys
and monitoring their operations jobs since the
inception of the project.
These jobs at the temporary casino are well paying
and will lead to long-term jobs at the permanent casino.
This table summarizes the goals for the operational jobs
and highlights the participation as
of the third quarter 2025.
Starting with the row at the top.
Operations jobs goal was
to hire at least 550 employees at the temporary casino.
As you can see on the right, as of Q3 2025,
Bally's has 743 employees
at the temporary casino.
On the next line down, Bally's goal for minority hires was
to achieve at least 60%.
As of Q3, they achieved 83% of minority hires
with the remainder being 17% Caucasian for women hires.
The goal was to achieve 45%.
As of the third quarter, women made up 45%
of the operations jobs.
The goal for veterans hires was 5%.
As of Q3, they had 2%.
Although Bally's has underperformed in meeting the veterans
goals, they are increasing their outreach
to the veterans community.
This outreach will be described in more detail
with the next presenter.
And finally, for persons with disabilities,
the goal was 5%.
As of Q3, they achieved 10%.
Bally's workforce development plan is
to create an environment that is rich with diversity
of the total 743 operations jobs at the temporary casino,
83% are minorities, which translates
to 616 employees.
A further breakdown of the minority hires is as follows,
40% African American, 24% Hispanic,
12% Asian and 7% identify with two or more races.
74% of B'S jobs are Chicagoans
and 27% come from our socially
and economically disadvantaged areas, which is
an increase in CDA participation from last year
where they add 23%.
These are long-term operations jobs at Valley's
that will carry over to the permanent casino.
Additionally, the management at the temporary casino is also
representative of our city.
68% of management positions at the temporary casino
are minority, while 36% are female.
Next slide. On this slide,
you have the map utilized by BS for their CDA outreach.
This map represents areas of Chicago based on census tracks
that are the most socioeconomically disadvantaged
with regard to household income, poverty rate,
unemployment rate, and high school graduation rate.
The 2024 CT map is based on the lowest ranking, 25%
of households in the area shown on the slide
highlighted in blue.
The 2024 map is being utilized for permanent casino goals
and temporary casino operations reporting.
We expect Valleys to continue to reach out
to see the communities
and to provide opportunities to our city's areas
with the most economic need.
This is a great story for Chicago
and shows that Bally's has committed
to developing a diverse local workforce
for the Chicago casino.
I will now pass it along
to Assistant Commissioner Lisa Lewis
to discuss the diversity spend.
Good morning again.
My name is Lisa Lewis
and I'm with the Department
of Housing Assistant Commissioner
Construction Monitoring and Compliance.
Um, given our task of monitoring economic development jobs
for both, um, department of Housing
and Department of Planning,
since the department's divested in 2019, department
of Housing has been monitoring design
and construction spend, construction jobs
and operation spends for the casino project.
Given this structure, DOH has engaged in monitoring the
related compliance goals in coordination with the Department
of Procurement Services, the office of the CCFO, department
of Planning and other relevant departments.
So on behalf of Commissioner Castaneda, I am happy
to review Bally's compliance achievement thus far.
Excellent. So, as I mentioned,
our compliance team monitors the operations spend goals
for the temporary casino operations.
Spend consists of the sourcing of goods
and services during operations,
including things like professional services, purchasing
of materials, food
and beverage office supplies, repair, maintenance,
and more Operation spend does not include the provision
of gaming equipment or related services
or spend related to adjacent garage o operations.
This slide is a quick summary
of the diverse span achieved in 2020, um,
2025 per goal category compared to 2024,
the MB achievement has nearly doubled from 16%
to 27% while WBE has more than doubled from
1.5% in 2024
to 3.8% in 2024.
Additionally, as you see the numbers for our V VP VBE
or Veterans Business Enterprises
and BEPD business enterprises owned by people
with disabilities are now on the board when they were not
in 2024.
So we are continually working with Valleys
to achieve these goals and to increase them.
Next slide. So this next slide shows a breakdown per quarter
per goal category during 2025 through Q3.
We recognize that there are barriers
to meeting the operations spend goals
and the city works with Valleys to improve their outreach
and ensure they're making good faith efforts
to utilize diverse suppliers at the temporary casino.
More on that on subsequent slides.
And this slide shows, um, I'm sorry.
Okay, this slide shows the, um, spend by ethnicity
during 2025
and the specific firms utilized to meet these goals.
Okay, and now this is the actual spend breakdown.
The numbers, um, may be a little hard to read,
but I think, um, of the committee members have copies
of the presentation.
But, um, the slide, um, shows the breakdown across, um,
various, um, categories.
Um, it shows the to, uh, applicable MB spend,
the target being 33% or being 26%,
and the achievement at 33.07%.
And the total WV spend, the target of 10%
is now at 5.39%.
And again, like I mentioned, um, BEPD, um, is at 4.21
and the veteran spend is at 0.29.
So we, again, are working with them to, um,
achieve these goals and to work on their outreach
and good faith efforts.
So at this time, I'd like to transition over
to our chief procurement officer to discuss outreach out.
Thank you, Lisa. Um, as Lisa indicated,
I'll be providing an overview of the temporary casinos,
vendor fairs and hiring fairs.
Um, um, so you can go to slide 21.
Bally's Construction Management team is the Chicago
Community Builders Collective, CCBC,
Bally's Construction Management, sorry,
Carson,
sorry,
We keep you can keep going.
A consortium of more minority owned firms,
as shown on the slides leading the construction of the
consortium is for the Chicago Casino Ball
and CCBC work with local assist agencies
and organizations to help outreach
and meeting project goals.
CCBC has participated in many engagements, sponsorships,
and outreach events for both the temporary
and po permanent casino.
Construction Valley has engaged in extensive outreach
efforts as shown on the slides for sourcing of goods
and services opportunities as the temp
at the temporary casino.
This is, this includes targeted outreach to certified firms
attending sourcing fairs around the city
and hosting a yearly diverse supplier vendor fair,
which occurred on June 15th, 2025.
However, both the city
and valleys recognize there is room for growth
for the operation spend for the temporary casino
as it relates to the goals.
And the HCA, the city makes sure
to send these outreach sessions
and other available engagements to our network networks,
including to all alderman
to ensure their residents are aware
of these opportunities at the casino.
Next slide. This slide shows some of
outreach, operational job outreach events.
Next slide. Our next slide includes an outreach
initiative that for stats for the veteran specific
operational job outreach event
that was hosted at the Chicago Lighthouse.
Next slide please. This slide summarized Bally's diverse
spend outreach strategy.
Their strategy includes referring companies to the city
of Chicago, um, 16 in 2025, and 13.
In 2024, Bally does engage with some firms
that are certified with other reporting agencies outside
of the city and Cook County.
This spin has not been reflected in the numbers above.
As mentioned Bally's previously, BA as mentioned previously,
B'S has started to engage DBEs
and Bpds in their reporting reports.
Again, they acknowledged the achievements are low,
are low, however, they continue to engage in outreach
to certified firms
and did onboarding with both veteran-owned firms
and persons with disabilities in quarter four
and 2024 as they committed.
Next slide please. This slide summarized stats
regarding Bally's Premier annual outreach events,
as well as their supplier diversity fair,
which was held on June 16th, 2025,
which was a great success.
Next slide. Um, this slide
summarizes Bally's unique community re reward program.
Bally's partnered with local establishments
to ensure points in exchange for credit at local businesses.
That's all I have to report on, on the,
on their outreach initiatives.
And at this time, I'll turn it back to Rhett.
Yeah, thank you so much.
Um, so from here we're pivoting to focus on the remainder
of this presentation exclusively on the permanent, uh,
casino cons, uh, casino project.
We'll start with a brief look ahead at the construction
goals for the next six months, along
with some recent drone footage of the site, which, uh,
BS has kindly provided.
Um, at that point I'll hand it over to our friend CDOT
to discuss, uh, some of the infrastructure progress
that's occurred at the site
before finishing up with, uh, DOH will run through some
of the compliance metrics associated with the construction
of the permanent casino.
Um, so at this this point, I will, uh, pivot it over
and, uh, hand it off over to Bally's, uh,
to speak on these next couple slides.
Alright, this is Mike Anzel, Bally's Vice President
of project Development.
So this slide, I'll give you a little context on this.
This is just a very high level, uh, snapshot
of this next six months starting January one.
So it's when you're saying we're seeing something
that's saying June through June 26th,
it's actually gonna go way beyond two June 26th.
You know, could be a month,
could be two months, could be four months.
So this is just again, a high level snapshot.
So where we're at right now is
where the superstructure is going up,
which is the hotel tower.
This is, uh, concrete
and we're, we, were planning to pour the 17th floor on
tomorrow, but I think Mother Nature has other plans for us
on the structural steel podium,
which includes the casino cons, uh, the,
all the parking restaurants and all the rest.
And the event center, uh, we have, uh, we're gonna be,
it's broken into thirds.
Uh, the second cranes, which you'll be able to see in the
video later on, is we're gonna be moving the second cranes
to the third portion on, uh, probably beginning of February.
So we're moving forward at the completion
of the structural steel will probably be in the next,
uh, few months.
Jefferson Street Bridge, that's an ongoing project
that's really gonna be moving through towards the end
of 26 or yes.
And, uh, that's probably the high level.
So if you wanna start the show, the video.
So again, this, you'll see right now,
this is the six 16th floor on the tower.
And then those two cranes that I, the cranes
that I was telling you about, the three cranes,
this is the second portion of the structural steel
that's being, uh, uh, constructed.
Now. These cranes will be moving in two weeks to be able
to do the third portion of the structural steel
and where it's tented now to be able
to pour all the slab on metal deck.
And that's where it meets with the hotel tower.
Thank you.
If we just wanna advance to the next slide, I think, uh,
Thank you again. Um,
my name is William Higgins,
assistant Commissioner at the City of Chicago Department
of Transportation, uh, reporting on behalf
of Acting Commissioner Turner.
Um, we can go to the next slide.
C DOT's currently underway with our projects on two sides
of the casino site.
Um, this rendering is the completed bridge, uh,
looking south with the casino being just around the corner,
uh, of the Riverbend to the right.
Um, this shows the anticipated river walk underpass
to the future development, um, north of the casino site.
You can move to the next slide please.
The limits of our project extend from, uh, Kingsbury
to the east on Chicago Avenue to
Green Street on the west,
and from Anona on the south on Halstead, up
to the south limit of the existing Halstead Street bridge,
which will remain the, uh, entire via
structure is being replaced.
And the, uh,
temporary bridge across the river at Chicago Avenue is also
being replaced with the vinyl shown in
that prior slides rendering.
Uh, next slide. This is
an overview of the project scope.
Um, as I said, with the river block connection
beneath the New River Bridge included, um,
the full viaduct reconstruction, um, as well
as coordinating with the casino on the connection
to the Jefferson Street Bridge across the casino site, um,
midway between the river and Halstead.
Next slide.
So we are under construction currently.
Um, we have detours in place
and the project is proceeding on schedule.
We anticipate to be, uh, uh, fully completed
by the end of this calendar year, uh, to coincide
with the Jefferson connections, uh, following that.
And from there we can, uh, pass it back to Lisa Lewis.
Okay, thank you.
Thanks again. Um, I wanna take an opportunity
to acknowledge Tia Barnes on my team who's advancing our
slides and keeping us on track today.
And she is, um, very instrumental in pulling together the
numbers that we are providing for you today
regarding compliance achievement.
So, um, and as, um, so next slide. Mm-hmm.
Um, as discussed,
the permanent casinos currently under construction
and going full steam ahead.
And as you'll see, the numbers at the end of Q3 are low.
However, we expect that Q4 for 2025,
which we'll report on during Q1
and Q1 20 20 26, will show a significant increase
and those reports will report to, um, the chairman
and the committee accordingly.
So, um, the, well, I'm sorry,
just can you go back to the last slide?
I just wanted to say a few things about that.
Um, the cons, permanent casino jobs right now, um,
the labor hours to date, um, have been 142,181,
um, in oh five.
So someone who's worked one fifth of an hour,
um, on the job.
And then the target for the City of Chicago residents,
which is 50%, they're currently at 41%,
but again, we expect that to increase.
And then Cedar a residents, um, which we also monitor on
construction, um, in accordance with the map that, um,
my colleague Mark Sagan showed you earlier.
Um, the goal on construction is 15.5
and the achievement is currently at 13.52.
So this next slide does show, um, a breakdown
of supplier diversity as it relates to the ethnicity group,
um, up until the end of Q3.
So to highlight some of the, um, achievement again,
when these numbers were compiled at the end of Q3, um,
the project was only at 13.79% complete.
Um, and there is a total, um, construction goal of 36%,
and at the time they were at 20 point 28%.
Okay. Um,
and then the total WB participation with the target
of 10% was at 6.08%.
So, and then the, uh, minority, um, participation
for groups are also on the slide for you.
Um, and again, it's year to date
and as construction continues
and Miguel Koto from Valley's, um, ramps up even more.
Um, the construction continues we'll
and, uh, we'll start working the project
and be participation is expected again
to increase significantly.
So, um, again, we are working with them on their outreach
and of course they're really happy to present
where they are currently and correct to close us
Out. Yeah. Thank you. Thank
you, Lisa.
To close out our presentation, I wanna take a moment
to underscore what the casino represents in terms
of financial impact, job creation,
and its broader significance to the city.
The $1.7 billion permanent casino represents a transform
transformational investment, Chicago's downtown
with significant improvements over the temporary casino,
including 4,000 gaming positions, 500 room motel,
3,300 parking spaces on site at 3000 seat theater,
and a single floor casino design
with 10 different eating establishments.
The permanent casino is expected to generate hundreds
of millions of dollars, which will support Chicago's police
and fire pensions while creating thousands of construction
and permanent operations jobs for Chicagoans.
The, uh, the projections presented today do not include the
additional indirect and an induced economic benefits.
Uh, typically associate with a major capital investment
of this scale, including increased local spending,
supplier activity, growth in supporting industries
and job creation around the casino.
The city's confidence in the permanent casino's long-term
revenue potentials supported by both peer experience
and independent analysis.
The city of Rockford has seen their recently opened Hard
Rock permanent casino continue
to substantially outperform its temporary casino
for the second consecutive year.
We can point to analysis from the Illinois Commission on
Government forecasting
and accountability, which wrote in their 2025 gaming report
that, and I quote,
a new 4,000 position casino strategically located near the
untapped area of downtown Chicago,
should exceed Illinois's highest revenue generating casinos
and would rival other large casinos,
uh, from across the country.
That same report further notes, some believe
that a Chicago permanent casino will eventually be the top
revenue pro producing casino in the Great Lakes region
through careful stewardship of its gaming market.
Since the enactment of the 2009 Video Gaming Act,
the city has positioned itself
to capitalize on this unique opportunity
and realize the benefits of what could be, uh, one
of the top grossing casinos in the Great Lakes region.
At the end of the day, we have gained a significant
structural revenue source, which, which will continue
to offset our police and fire pension costs, uh,
for the foreseeable future.
And we're eager for the permanent casino open its doors
and deliver for the city of Chicago.
So with that, I'd like to thank again,
all the aldermen here today, city leaders
and our private partners for taking the time to be here.
Uh, we look forward to continuing our work, uh, together
with all of you and we'll now be happy to take any questions
or comments from the committee members.
Thank you. Um, we appreciate the
presentation that was given.
We have questions by committee members.
There are questions anyone would like to ask.
Uh, Ottoman Viegas.
Thank you Madam Chair,
and thank you to, uh, Bally for being here today.
So, couple of questions. Slide 20 on the temporary casino.
Just wanted to find out what
that spend was on the Hispanic participation
and the veteran participation.
I'm say
It in his package, temporary spend. Yeah.
Uh, on the Hispanic
and Veteran, I mean, such a small amount, just curious to
what they, what the, what was the, what was procured
or what, what services were provided.
The question is what services were provided
For? Um,
Page 20. Yeah.
Are you talking about any particular
slide in your packet or,
Uh, slide. Yeah, the slide that's on
the deck as well. Page
20. Okay.
Um, and you want to know some of the spend
and some of the people that attributed to that?
Yes, ma'am. Okay. Um, we have that information.
Actually, some of it is on, um, slide 19, which, um,
includes, um, we have first Choice specialty services,
which is an MBE.
And when you talk about the actual, um, ethnic,
ethnic breakdown, um, it's just is unfortunate as
to where, you know, we can't tell
them who to do business with.
But, um, it shows that, um, who they're using
on a regular basis and they're doing continual outreach
with all the assist agencies as, um, CPO Roberts mentioned.
So if you want any greater detail, of course you can, um,
get that information to you through the chair.
So am I to understand that the total spend
to date is $39,000 from page 19, right?
Um, no, through the quarter, so
through the annual year through the year.
So Q1, Q2 and Q3? Yes. That is the spend currently through
Q3. It's through
Q3.
So, so from that 2025, correct? Yes. Right.
And, and the project started in 2025?
Or when did the project actually start? What's, well, the
Temporary casino started, um, a couple years,
Right? 2023,
September of 2023.
Do you have the total numbers from, from 2022 to current?
I mean, yes, we do. Okay.
Could you, if you could provide that through the chair.
Perfect. And then, um, you said that the year to date
spend by ethnicity on page 19 for Hispanics is 39,000,
and then in the third quarter
you spent 9,000, is that correct?
Um, from slide 20 mm-hmm.
20,
yes.
That's what, yeah, that's the specific breakdown for Q3.
So yes, in Q3, um, that was the spent.
So then the, the, the 9,000 was spent, um,
with, um, either Lizette Medina
or Brandenburg Plumbing
or Kadian Science, is that correct?
That would be correct. Right. Okay. Well, we can
Get you again, the Specific Yeah, well
that's the temporary, so I'm more,
that's already a structure that was already built,
and so it was more of, uh, of, uh,
retrofitting it to turn it into a casino.
So I'm more concerned about the, the,
the current construction that's going on, the
Permanent casino. Yeah,
The permanent casino is, um,
So the permanent casino that's, uh, going on here.
So right now, I'm sorry, page 37.
So in your, in your document you had stated
that they were short their goal
and were at 13.79%
and was just curious as to, uh, how do,
how do they envision making up the shortfall?
Um, given that we're about 14% into the project,
are we looking at different trades
and different professions later on in the project?
Meet the goal?
You have someone who could answer the question Yeah.
Of what we are going to do to improve those goals,
um, on
Sure. Miguel
Koto project is like with CCBC Alderman, the answer
to your question is simple.
We're not done buying. So while we're at 13% construction,
we were probably at that point in end of third quarter
last year, we were sitting at about 50 to 60%
of the project bought.
So we are continuing to bid
and buy, uh, many more of the trades going out.
So we're watching those trades as we're looking
to continue to bring people in.
Very diverse group coming in, bidding,
pursuing opportunities, walking
through the entire process to get 'em to win.
So the combination of where we are in construction
and all the future buy, we still have to do, we feel
that we can bring that number up.
Gotcha. So the 14%, the 13.79% complete
is Q3 of 2025 numbers or
Yes, yes. Three of 2025.
That's correct. Alderman, could,
Could you through the chair kind of explain
what your plan is to get to that goal?
I know that you're saying that you're gonna buy trades,
but I'm just curious as to like where,
where those opportunities are gonna be.
Um, so that way as we're trying to talk
to local businesses within our wards, we can say, Hey,
here's this opportunity.
You should go look at, you know, value, uh, CBC's, uh,
bidding page or Bally's bidding page
to find out the opportunities.
We will do that. And we'll also include our CCC BC
website, um, so that people can access it that way as well.
We'll share that with the chair.
Um, and, and I appreciate
that you're noting the veteran businesses.
I know that, uh, the city's, it's been a little tough,
but appreciate those efforts.
Uh, if you could continue, um, doing outreach to, to
that community, I would, a lot of us would appreciate that.
Um, and then for finance, uh, so
we were told when this project was approved
that it would be $200 million
of potential revenue for pensions.
Is that, and I saw in your charts, I didn't see any 200.
I saw the highest, I think was 1 78 or 1 74.
Can you, can you tell us why those projections are
below the 200 that's been sold to us?
That was sold to us before, rather?
Yeah, I mean, uh, you know, obviously I, I don't know
how much I can speak to what the, the previous projections
that were were told to you guys all, all would be,
but I, I know there was an original projection analysis
that was done, um, uh, kind
of initially when considering the casino project.
Um, since then, I know that we've done, you know,
more recent projections and,
and any discrepancy there is, is just the difference
between those projections.
Um, I, I would have to go back to our advisors
and see, you know,
if it was an increase in seeing like, what, what,
Can you provide that information through the chair?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, we'll be happy
to reach out and see what we can get. You
Chair, one chair.
If, if I, if I can maybe just comment,
uh, on Bally's behalf.
Just, I, I've been through this whole process.
Um, Chris Stewart, senior
Vice President corporate development.
I've been working on this project since day one.
Uh, I believe, and I did not put this slide together,
my read on this slide is,
this is just the gaming tax revenue projections.
It excludes very material, um, other taxes like real estate,
uh, hotel tax, food
and beverage sales taxes, payroll taxes, uh,
the annual fee, et cetera.
So yeah, I think that bridges the difference.
I don't wanna be quoted on record as I didn't put the slide
Together, but, so if I'm understanding you correct, Chris,
you're saying that the projections that
finance is putting forward at the 1 74 as it ramps up,
that the difference between the 1 74
and 200 are going to be the, um, other revenue
that's generated that will ultimately
come into the corporate fund. Is that what I'm hearing?
Correct. Essentially, non-gaming revenue is in that, can
Can you state your name just So we know,
Uh, Christopher jut, uh, yes, that's,
that's correct. The difference, the problem,
So the problem there is that, is
that additional 26 million that you're pro
that's being projected, is that automatically earmarked
for pensions similar to the way
that the 1 74 under state statute is required for pensions?
Yeah, so what he's, what I, yes,
uh, I think Chris is right here.
That's the induced economic benefit that I kind of referred
to on that on, on the closing slide there.
Um, a lot of the original projections associated
with like increases in, um, in increases in, in things like,
you know, the, the real estate tax collection in that area,
uh, restaurant tax, that kind of thing, as sort
of economic benefits that would also be a result of.
And so I think what was originally, uh, shown to a lot
of city, the city council members was, uh, kind of more
of this, um, net value gained from the construction
of it, including all of those.
But, uh, those are not, uh, distinctly carved out
after they're collected in pensions in the same direct way
that the sort of direct payments from Valleys are,
or the gaming revenues are.
So moving forward, if we're curious like how much is going
to be, um, available for, for the pension payments,
we would specifically be looking at the gaming revenue
generated off the casinos.
So then that would be the, the body that would determine
the appropriation, where that appropriation would go.
I mean, there's nothing prohibiting us from stating
that all revenue generated from the casino would go towards
the pension, which is our hugest liability,
which we follow suit with what the state has put forward.
Is that an accurate, is that accurate?
So I, I think to the extent that we can identify the,
the distinct and discreet addition as a result
of the casino in terms of like gaming revenue, we, you know,
that is remitted as a direct sort of cause and effect.
Um, I think some of the other, uh, pieces
that were included in that were the induced economic
benefits, um, which are a little bit harder to really,
you know, quantify, right?
Like if we're talking about like the, the increased, um,
you know, uh, property values, let's say in
that area generating more, uh, in property tax revenue,
I think it's a little bit harder to parse out like
what exactly that is and then, you know, kind
of have any sort of strict commitment there.
So it's primarily talking about direct gaming
and missions revenues from, uh, the casino
that would be available for the, for the contribution.
Alright, well, I'm, I'm, yeah, no,
we're not talking about, I'm talking about
all so similar here.
Look the same way when aviation does services over there,
those dollars typically stay with the enterprise.
Um, obviously pensions being a huge liability.
The general assembly saw fit to require that
that revenue be go towards police and fire pensions.
I agree with that. 'cause that relieves our corporate fund.
That being said, it's that additional revenue
that's created at the, at the casino that I'd like
to see earmarked specifically for pensions.
So that way that whole enterprise can fund our u our biggest
liability, which happens to be, I just don't,
government has a tendency when it sees new money
to create new projects
and we have this huge liability that,
that is a lot of pressure.
So I'd love to see, uh, working with the administration,
we can find out a way to codify that any revenue
that's generated from this casino be earmarked specifically
for, for pension, for police and fire pensions.
Um, so that way we can begin to address that, that,
you know, that big liability
that we have almost $40 billion in,
in, in pension liability.
And I would hate to shortchange the first responders
who have paid into these funds and do so much for the city.
I wanna make sure that that that's there.
And then to, to, to, uh, either procurement
or Bally's, um, on the outreach stuff, how
do we just reach out to, to procurement
or to Bally's to get some outreach
into some other communities as well?
How, how do we, how do we go about trying to, um,
Put, do you have a website with that information on it?
Monica? Right? Yeah. Yeah.
Since, since under the gaming, under the legislation,
we're kind of prohibited from right
Discussions. That's
why I, they have a website because we are permitted,
This is Monica Scott with B Chicago, uh, related
to community engagement and outreach.
We have locations on our website,
but I can also reach out directly, provide the information
so that you have a point of contact.
Um, and we work directly with all communities
and all organizations.
So I'd be happy to incorporate you
and your community in our programs.
I appreciate that. If you could provide
that through the chair, I'd
appreciate it. Will do. Thank you.
And whenever we do have, um, outreach
and we are aware of it, we do send it out through the, um,
chairperson and then through the various offices as well.
So, um, when we know of something in advance,
we definitely pass that information on. Gotcha.
Cool. Thank you. Thank you Madam Chair.
Thank you. Uh, chairman Viegas,
chairman Dow. Thank you.
Uh, thank you chairman. Thank you
for your presentation this morning.
Uh, just a few quick questions.
On the 720 permanent jobs, uh, can you give me a breakdown
of breakdown of full and part-time positions?
Oh, I'm sorry. You talking about for operations?
Uh, yes, for your, i i for the temporary casino,
it says 720 plus new permanent jobs created.
Mark Sagan. Um, could you repeat the question?
The 743 jobs, uh, at the temporary casino, what was the
Breakout that you had? I'm trying
to get a breakdown on how many
of them are full-time
and how many of them are part-time permanent jobs
On, on B'S behalf, this is Amit Patel, um, vice president,
uh, regional vice president for B'S Corporation.
Um, our part-time numbers fluctuate anywhere between 10
to 15% overall and, um, depends on the month
or depends on season, but, uh,
we've stayed pretty consistent over 70
to 80% full-time jobs a year.
Were You looking for more of the numbers? Chairman do,
Yeah, I was looking for the, the numbers
because it says permanent jobs not
To finish numbers.
So to me that means it's permanent job
Chairman do that. Would
We can take that through the chair if you don't have the
numbers available.
Yeah, we, we can, we can provide the specific numbers
by month, but just know that whether it's part-time
or full-time, they are permanent jobs
and they'll continue to remain permanent jobs
as we go towards their target of 3000 jobs.
I appreciate the answer.
I'm still looking for the answer
to my question. All right. The
Other chair, The other question I have is,
I noticed when Bally's gives a presentation on
the casinos, um,
that the Rockford Casino is never
part of the mix.
Is there a reason for that?
So I, I mean, I can speak at least for our, like some
of the materials that we put together on our end,
sometimes we will exclude it
'cause it's not, um, generally what we would consider part
of like the Chicago gaming market.
We look at sort of like northwest Indiana
and then kind of the immediate suburbs.
Um, but I, I did feel like it was worth mentioning
during the presentation, um, just
because of, you know, there's similar shifts, uh,
in a more urban environment from a temporary to a permanent,
we can kind of see how
that played out for them and, and make it difference. Yeah,
That sounds like a whole lot of gobbly cook.
I'm, I'm, I just think that, you know, Rockford is, uh,
uh, you know, you've got other hard rock, Northern Indiana.
Um, I don't know.
I don't, I'm not a a, I don't go to casinos anymore,
but Wind Creek, where's that?
Uh, the, I thought that one was off Wind Creek.
Is that off the northwest side? That's
Home Homewood. Homeland
Homewood. Okay.
But we can certainly like, expect we can
Skip, I would just like to see, uh, that ca I noticed
that, I mean, it is never listed.
Sure. And it is a significant casino in Illinois.
Yeah, I agree. And we can include that, um, in,
in future reporting.
Okay. And then, uh, to the book, uh, Ms. Roberts,
I didn't know there was A-B-E-P-D that's, that's a
for real certification.
Yes, it is. Persons with Disabilities, the City
of Chicago certified firms that, um,
are persons with disabilities.
Okay. How long have we had that?
I, I knew about the V-B-E-W-B-M-B-E.
I just didn't follow the B-E-P-D-I
Could provide you when they start certifying, um,
persons with disabilities.
But we do have firms that are certified in that category.
Okay. Are there any
Other context?
I think it did start in like 20, um, oh five.
Um, so the BEPD situa, um,
certification's been around. Okay.
Thank you. Education for me on that?
Thank you Madam Chair.
Thank you. Vice Chair Lobato.
Thank you very much. Chair. Uh, a couple questions.
One broader question and then on the details here.
So I, I know that there's a,
a bill in Springfield currently under Representative Buckner
that would extend the opening date for the permanent casino
to, I believe I read September, 2027.
I'm wondering if anybody from Bally's can talk to us about
that bill, whether we expect it to pass, whether we expect
to need that full extension.
Sure. I'll, I'll Take that. And while you're speaking
on that, why don't you just tell us
what was the delay and why we have to
Absolutely. I'll, I'll, I'll
provide a little bit more background.
Uh, Chris Stewart again with bs.
So I think taking a step back, the original legislation
that allowed for caci uh, casino expansion in 2019 had a,
uh, somewhat arbitrary three month limit on the operations
of all temporary casinos.
Uh, is a three three year limit.
It started with two years,
and then each temporary operator had to go to IGB
and IGB could grant an additional 12 months to bring that
to three years in total.
Uh, ultimately when we were awarded the license,
our goal was to generate revenue
for the city as quickly as possible.
We took about nine months to complete construction
and in total 12 months
to open the temporary from the point at which we started.
Uh, there's obviously been some challenges
as there always is with large scale construction projects.
Um, I think it's no secret that we, we all experienced with,
um, you know, the water authority, the water pipe issue,
where we had to go and essentially redesign, uh,
an entire multi-billion dollar project, which takes time.
Um, subsequent to that, as, as you can see, uh,
over the last 18 months,
we've made significant progress in demolishing nearly
a million square feet, uh, of building.
That was the former Tribune Publishing Center.
Uh, we spent months doing, you know,
site infrastructure improvements in utility work
and having been putting up steel since September,
you can see we're nearly complete in the next few months.
So the project is, is on track to speed
through completion.
The bill itself, we uh,
we anticipate not needing the full 12 months
and it's been structured that way, uh, in
that the bill would allow
for an automatic six month extension, whereby then if we
and the Illinois Gaming Board working together, they see
that we're making good faith progress, they can allow for up
to two, three month extensions.
So I hope that, I hope that answers the question
and provides a little more background.
It kind of does. So like if I were to expand on this,
this slide, so September 20 se 2027,
we don't anticipate needing those, the, the full six months
and the three months and the three months.
What would be a realistic expectation for,
for council and our constituents?
We're, we're still targeting to try
and get to substantial completion by the end of this year.
Uh, obviously as you, you know,
we experienced weather delays yesterday.
We had to stop construction.
I know tomorrow it's gonna be Sub-Zero temperatures.
Uh, there's always unknowns,
there's challenges with permits.
Uh, I know we're, we're gonna be highly dependent on one
of our entryways, which is that Chicago Avenue Bridge.
You know, you don't wanna one way in
one way out for a casino.
So there's a lot of variables.
Um, we're still, we're moving as fast as we can.
Our goal is to get open. We would love to be open today.
Uh, obviously there's always challenges
and we're gonna address those with everyone in this room,
uh, and all the city agencies, you know,
that we can in order to expeditiously get open. Okay.
I appreciate that. Gentlemen.
My next question is on the revenue and productions.
So I went back and you can look up what the productions were
that were put before, what
before us, back when the council was first voting on this
for 2025,
and again, for the temporary casino, the slots, tables,
sports, put it together, the total casino revenue projection
for 2025 was 253.6 million.
The revenue from last year,
and again, we are a significant market share,
but the revenue for all
of last year was 124.6 million,
which like fair to say is significantly
below the initial projections.
I was wondering if somebody could speak to that
and whether, whether Chicago in the long term needs
to be revising down our own
tax receipt protections
as well. Anyone can take that?
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's similar to the,
to the question put out earlier.
I think, you know, when we're looking forward in terms
of planning and what we expect, I think we've moved forward
with the most recent projections
and are trying to, to ascribe to that as much as possible,
which is really looking at the direct gaming revenues.
Anything sort of beyond that in terms of induced effect?
Um, you know, I I don't know if, if that's necessarily like,
uh, I don't wanna say, I don't wanna imply unreliable,
but I don't know if that's necessarily
what we're looking at when we're looking at, you know,
the amount that would be free to contribute
to a pension contribution.
Um, you know,
and then, uh, yeah, I mean, I, I'd be happy to, you know,
kind of do an apples, apples
and oranges to any, uh, the previous analysis
and provide that to the chair as to like, what,
what's shifted between those two.
So I might rephrase it like this, 50%
below projections is significantly below projections.
Should we be comparably revising down our projections
for the permanent casino?
I think a any of the changes for the,
for the permanent casino would've been sort
of any shifts in our expectations.
You know, we, we are going off of our gaming, um, uh,
advisors in terms of the people
who put together the analysis for us and,
and have their own models, uh,
and sort of look at, at the facts and,
and, you know, the report
that they've most recently generated is, is
what we're going to operate off of.
Um, I, I think any sort
of changes in expectations would've
been realized between those two.
And those are two different firms from who did the original
temporary projection, temporary casino projections versus
who've who's done the most recent, uh,
permanent gaming projections.
Um, so, you know, I think with, with that, um,
sort of in mind, I I, I, I think going with the most recent,
uh, gaming projections that we have is, is, uh, you know,
kind of the most, the most clear path forward for us.
Vice chair, if I, if I can speak on Bally's behalf?
Yes, sir. Uh, again, Chris dewitt. Yeah. State
Your name for The record. Uh,
Chris Christopher jtt.
Uh, we are highly confident that we can meet the projections
for the permanent casino.
We've realized that the, the temporary has had challenges,
uh, from a, you know, parking and access and,
and quite frankly, it's really amenity related outside
of parking in that it was always meant to be a temporary,
it's never meant to be a long-term solution.
Once you can add in a, an, an, a true entertainment aspect,
like a, the, a 3000 seat theater, a long-term, uh,
five on a room, hotel, rooftop bar, uh,
multiple sit down restaurants, a food court, a river walk,
and then really a campus feel that doesn't exist today.
And quite frankly, that casino doesn't exist
in the state today.
Mm-hmm. So we are highly confident that we'll be able
to meet those projections.
I appreciate that response. Thank you very much, sir.
You're welcome. Um, my last question is
related to the diversity spend,
and we could look at it a few different ways,
but I'm gonna look at the 2025
operations spend numbers for what page you on?
Uh, yes ma'am. Uh, page 19. Okay.
So again, I, I know that we're working to meet our
MBE numbers looking at year to date's, year
to date spend by ethnicity,
Hispanic contractors make up 0.3%.
Uh, actually 1.18% of applicable spend,
0.3% of total operational spend.
If I'm going by the overall 12 million number,
even if I'm going by the 1.18% number,
it seems like for reasons I don't have
insight into, there is a struggle to connect with
Latino contractors.
I, I know that there's broad efforts
to improve our MBE participation numbers.
I'm wondering if someone could speak to the specific efforts
to specifically engage with Hispanic Latino contractors,
Temporary casino operations or construction.
So, I'm, I, I'll focus here on
temporary operational spend. Okay.
Um, and I will defer that to the ballets team to, um,
speak significant, uh, speak more to the outreach
that they do, um, per, uh, category.
Monica Scott. Um, our efforts, uh, as we look
to source any providers, we go directly initially
to the city site, um, the one that's maintained
by Department of Procurement Services,
and that is how we begin any search.
So starting there is the resource, um, based on
what is available is how we activate.
Uh, we also engage
with the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
And so utilizing those resources have been some
of our primary efforts today.
Um, initially and additionally, we do reach out to Alders
and work to ensure that we have, uh,
we use them as a resource.
So I would be happy to move directly
and go through the chairman and offer any R pfs,
or excuse me, uh, RF qs that are out there and available
and would be happy to talk with anyone who's interested
in having additional conversation.
And to add a broader context, what we do as far as, um,
putting together the compliance numbers is one of the tools
that we built for ballets was, you know, really specific
outreach for, um, the work that they have coming up, um,
for temporary casino, um, operations.
So we have worked with them to make sure that we know
who they're, you know, contacting for opportunities
and how many of those that, you know, per ethnicity
or breakdown as to who is responding.
And, um, we might be able to do some analysis of that
for you and see, you know, what that, um,
return on that investment has been.
Uh, for pointing information, they, I see that, uh,
they have contractors.
Right.
I will be following, I will be following up.
I didn't, I just, that group
Yes. Is
a, um, primary partner for, um, construction mostly,
but they do have some professional services, um, folks as
Well. Okay.
My, I, if I may chair one question. Thank you.
Um, you had mentioned, uh, looking at page 37,
permanent casino construction diversity spend,
while we are currently at 20% MBE participation
against a target of 36%, you said that we should expect,
it says that we should expect these numbers
to increase significantly.
Can you speak more to that,
either here or through the chair?
Are there specific subcontractor contracts
or work hours that are, are coming online in the next year?
Is that what we're referencing?
Yes, and actually we are looking at perhaps even, um,
when we were poured for Q4,
because again, this annual goes up to Q3
and, um, Miguel Koto
or Mike could speak to the actual, um, buying out
of the project, if you will, as far as, um,
other opportunities that may have come on board, um,
since September 30th.
So that's why we really expect the numbers to increase, um,
with Q4 reporting as well as Q1 for 20, um,
26 reporting as well.
Um, because there are several, um, trade packages that were,
um, let and brought on board in the last quarter
or, um, in Q3, but too early to report it for Q3 in a sense.
So that's why that those numbers will show up in Q4.
So if we were here in June, for example,
like we would be looking at a different report, so to speak.
Oh, yeah. And yeah,
because it, you know, we'll have a lot more
of the construction, um, that would would've been purchased
and work that would be completed.
Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you, chair.
Thank you. Uh, Autum Alderman Burnett, followed
by Alderman Irving
and would like to acknowledge Alderman Nicole Lee, uh,
non-member for the purpose of the court.
Um,
okay, Jeanette.
Okay, we, we'll come back to Ottoman.
Jeannette Taylor, I see I have a hand raised.
Um, I'm here Chairwoman.
Yes, we got you for the purpose of the quo. Thank you.
And I wanna ask a question when you get to,
Okay, sure. Ottoman Burnett.
Thank you Chairman. Thank you all for the presentations.
Good to see the progress that's happening over here.
Uh, I want to dig into some of the, the revenue numbers.
As I know the city benefits, the more that Valleys produces
higher revenue, um, 3 million visitors, it stated that
that's second the highest amount of visitors in the region,
but yet we're fourth in, they enter gross revenue.
What is the disconnect between the visitor base
and the revenue generation in comparison
to the peer set across the region?
I remember Burnett, this is Amit Patel from Valleys.
And, um, the, the disconnect is very simple.
It expands on what Chris Stewart,
my colleague mentioned earlier, that we have
over 110,000 visitors going
to Medina Temple on a monthly basis
because we lack the amenities that we are going
to ultimately have in the permanent casino is
where people end up spending less per visit or per trip.
And if you look at our matrix of
how we track on spend per visit from the patrons,
that's where the disconnect is.
So the more amenities you provide, whether it be in the form
of theater or rooms, uh, food court or food hall
or restaurants, the more spend
you're gonna get at the casino.
So that's, that's really the biggest disconnect we have from
per, from temporary to permanent.
Thank you Al Alderman, if I could add to that, I would,
I would liken this to, uh, dwell time in an airport
as an example, right?
The longer you have in any space, the more likely you are
to spend across the board, not just gaming,
but at all the other amenities.
I think it would be helpful for my colleagues to see what
that compares to in terms of other Valley's operations, what
that dwell time difference means in terms
of the temporary casino versus your standard casinos
where people are spending more time on site.
Um, with that being said, do you all have a breakdown
or are you able to share how many people are coming
to the casino from out of town or residents
or people who, who spend money who are residents in local
to Illinois versus people who are tourists?
Uh, we have visitor data for people who sign up
for our loyalty membership card.
And so we track those customers and they come from all over.
We have the percentages by zip code
or by the area where they live, where they come here
for conventions or, uh, visiting
as a tourist in the summer as well.
We have that data, um, happy to provide you, uh, separately.
That would be great if you can provide that to the chair.
Again, it's good to frame the context of
how much are we generating from residents
who are already gonna spend money in our local economy
versus people who are traveling to Chicago
and see this casino as a part of their tourism
destination aspect.
Um, year over year from 2024
to 2025, the revenue
to the city dropped slightly.
Is this has to, does this have to do with just
how many people are coming into casino?
Can we talk about what that challenge or difference is?
Y yes. This is Amit Patel again from bs.
The, the challenges really we talked about earlier, we,
we kept the admissions relatively flat alwin,
and, um, that's, that's really
where the tax revenues are, are being impacted.
So overall, if you look at from a pure percentage basis,
we have flat admissions year over year
and flat tax revenues year over year.
So we can basically assume
that right now the temporary casino is close
to its maximum output
or its flatlining in preparation for the new one
because people aren't necessarily getting the amenity
benefit that they would going into a competitor casino.
Correct. The, in, in a typical market alderman, um, we,
we continue to see growth sometimes in
single digit percentage growth.
But, but to your point, as we build our momentum
to our permanent, um, we are,
we are definitely reaching the peak between the two years,
between 24 and 25. Yes.
Thank you. And last set of my questions would be
around the construction timeline,
particularly around the infrastructure.
Um, how much, I know this Jeffers Street Bridge is a part
of the timeline that you showed here, that seems like
that's contingent on the Halstead Street project, um,
being completed, I guess
'cause of the connection, I would assume.
Yes. This is Mike Han Elk with Valleys. That is correct.
Uh, alderman, uh, it's a, a key component
of the tie in for sure.
And we've had some other challenges with some kind
of permits and other things too, which we're,
we've been working through with the city.
So can we go into that a bit in terms of how much
time impact does the construction
of the Halstead Street Bridge, um, impact the timing
of the casino opening as well as your construct completion
of the remaining portion of your infrastructure?
What have been some of the challenges
and how much delay has that, uh, added to your process?
Uh, again, Mike Anzel with bs,
so it's not necessarily impacting the build portion of it,
it's the connection that's absolutely critical to us as
Chris Drew was saying, is that we cannot open
with just one entry exit point.
So it doesn't necessarily delay our building with the rest
of the work, but it's, uh, absolutely critical
as far as the connection
Well delays the, the opening if you can't have
Yes, correct way in.
Um, and so I don't know if someone from the Department
of Transportation can speak on our progress
with Holster Street and the connectivity with Jefferson,
but how are we with that process being three,
four months in, uh,
and the expectation of completing it in a timely manner?
Bill Higgins with the cdot? Um, yeah.
We are on track with the Halstead and Chicago projects.
We anticipate being done with construction
by December, 2026.
Um, currently we're also working closely with BS on the, um,
review of the connection with Jefferson,
which will follow that.
Um, the design is, is gonna be built so
that it will go hand in hand with it right away.
Um, also just to mention, we have, uh,
utility permitting, um, underway for Jefferson as well.
And on the south end at uh, grand Avenue, the PGL and
Utilities have been approved and those are
going to construction next week.
Awesome. Love to hear construction starting.
Uh, and you mentioned the importance of the campus feel.
Um, I know that that Riverwalk is a part
of the campus structure.
Where is that in this timeline
and when we think about the utilities and framework
and where that'll be available to the general public?
Uh, Mike Anzel, again, when we do open up, uh, you know,
obviously we're not gonna be opening up the Riverwalk
because we're not gonna be able to do, uh, some
of the concrete work that's exterior
and landscaping and the rest.
But when the weather breaks for us, uh, we'll be able in do
that in 27 complete opening.
Gotcha. So effectively it's at the end of this timeline
that we see here is when the Riverwalk would be functional
or worked on completely to be open?
Correct. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Ottoman Burnett, um, Ottoman Irving,
followed by Alman Taylor.
Uh, thank you Madam Chair.
Um, just a couple of quick questions.
Um, we have so much of the non,
um, gaming spend in our MBE calculations
of the amount that we're actually calculating.
I think it's about three, I think it was 3.1 million.
What does the other spin look like for the gaming operations
outside of what you're counting toward NBE?
We can, um, get that information
to, um, through the chair for you.
'cause we don't have, we don't track that, um,
for our spend.
Um, we can work with BS to get you that information.
Bs do you have an answer? Um,
Amit Patel from Bally's, again, the gaming spend primarily,
uh, we, we clearly haven't included in the support is really
going directly to the purchase of equipment software related
to slot machines.
Uh, shuffler at the tables, cards
and dice, those are all national gaming suppliers
that we have sourced.
And they're all approved by the IGB as well.
And then are, and there, my assumption then is
that there are no MBEs or minorities in that space.
Um, there are, but,
but it doesn't have to be specifically a national vendor.
But there are, there are definitely national vendors
that are MB and WBE space as well.
We just don't have the specifically, uh, one company
that we would say the sourcing of the cards, for example,
uh, or even slot machines is a really good example
where we have primarily four major manufacturers
and they are international suppliers.
And you would not have MBWB in that space.
And then there's, there's no opportunity for,
um, a local, for lack of a better term, like, like a dealer
of product in that space, like going
to a Chevy dealer.
I, I, I'm just, just in a, like, in a generic sense to,
to, uh, in, in, in that, in that space
Currently that doesn't exist with the manufacturers
that we are going through any dealer space,
but depends on every jurisdiction.
If there are requisites that we have to procure
through a local dealership,
then we would definitely comply by that.
Okay. But the,
and I, I guess if you don't have a number
through the chair would be fine.
As it relates to what's the other spend there?
Um, this space, I mean there,
it just seems like there has to be a way
to create opportunity.
'cause it's, I'm assuming that it's a fairly, uh,
large number that the spend is
and to not have access, for lack
of a better term, uh, in that space.
Uh, you know, I, I think that's something that we,
I would like to see, uh, the access to that, to that spin.
'cause it looks like it's significant
and the creation of opportunities for, uh, local businesses
and, and the like, uh, for that.
So that's just, uh, just one thing that,
that I'm interested in.
The second question is around the community rewards program.
Um, how do you, uh, how does a business get included
in, in that program so that, you know, those two things can,
can come together with the community spend
and getting potential rewards with you all as well?
Absolutely. Monica Scott, uh, it's information
that I share as I attend resource fairs.
It's available on the website.
Currently we have over 30
independent local merchants that have engaged in that.
We've spent over $330,000
to date on that campaign.
And it's a benefit to us at the casino
because we can then offer
and cross promote those local businesses.
So on the website
and through resource fairs, vendor fairs,
that information is being communicated.
And is there a cost for the business
to participate in the program?
There is not. Okay. Alright. Cool.
Uh, and then my final question is
around the access to the site.
Has there been, um, contemplation
of Ohio ramp access to your facility?
Uh, alderman Irvin, Chris Jewett with b's?
Uh, originally when we did start to look at the site,
that was a consideration.
Uh, based on a lot of the complexities though,
with coming off of that
and the cost, which would be in the hundreds of millions
of dollars and a few year lead time just
to get to approvals.
It would also eat up.
Our, our entire site is about 25 land acres in total 30,
including air rights.
It would eat up at least about half of the site
with all the circulation.
So it was not feasible, uh, unfortunately.
Um, okay. Alright.
Well, I I'll just, I I'll leave, leave that one alone then.
I just, that accessing this site can be tough, uh,
especially during, um, rush hour.
But as I was coming out of, I was coming down, uh,
as in Ontario, um, into leaving, leaving the area up there,
I was like, why can't we just get right off here
and go, uh, go to the, uh, go to the casino there.
Um, 'cause I, I just, that that site is just, you know,
challenging to get to dependent upon
where you, where you're coming from.
Um, okay. Well those are the only items that I, uh, had, uh,
want to continue, uh, to support the, um,
support you guys getting where you need to go.
And, um, it is, I think it's mostly beneficial for everybody
that, that you guys do what you need to do, especially
for our, our pensions and the overall, um,
re reducing that liability.
So, um, let's, uh, say get rolling. Thank
You. Emman Irving.
Ottoman Taylor?
Yes ma'am. Thank you Madam Chair. Okay.
Can you all tell me who
decided on the temporary, um, location?
Uh, this is Chris Det with Bally.
So date dating back to the original bidding in 2021
and 2022.
Our original bid included a, uh, short term,
I think it was four year lease to include construction
and o uh, temporary operations at the 700 West Chicago
building, which is, uh, owned today by Ani.
And that's where Universal is going to go.
Uh, ultimately the, through the due diligence process,
once we submitted bids, uh, reminding everyone
that we were not allowed to speak to the city during, uh,
the blackout period,
which is when the procurement process started
and bids were submitted, we were made aware
that the Chicago Avenue Bridge would be taken out
of commission and the Chicago
and Halstead viaduct would be completely, um, reconstructed,
uh, as such that essentially made that site unviable.
Uh, once we were made aware of that, we did a,
a blanket search throughout the entire city, north side,
south side, west side.
And ultimately landed after looking at about 10
or 12 different sites, including, um, you know,
convention hotels, which had been shut down.
Uh, we were actually deep in negotiations with a couple, uh,
that's when we ultimately landed on the completely vacant
Medina Temple, which has about 5,000 parking spaces nearby
and we could access immediately.
So ultimately, you all decided on the temporary? Yes.
And so when deciding on this, did you realize some
of the issues that are at hand?
Because I'm just gonna be honest, while I was not in support
of a casino in the city of Chicago at all,
this has not worked and we have not generated the money,
nor do people, if you ask one in three.
So in the 20th Ward, I have 18 senior buildings,
and I meet with these seniors at least three times a year
just on things that I use.
One in three of those seniors don't even know that we have
a, a casino.
And so that is on valleys, that's on you all.
And there has not been any real conversation with,
with Alders about the
casino, even existing.
I have not received one email
nor had one conversation
with anybody at Bally's about it, even existing.
And so you all are not working with us
to try to make sure that a, people know that this
casino exists.
BI see more advertisement for other
casinos than I ever see at b's.
And, and
I'm, I'm truly disappointed
because I feel like even when this,
and we're not, you all are not doing well,
it's just you all are not,
I'm disappointed in the presentation.
I'm just not happy with the temporary thing
because to your point, at least you were honest about it.
Like it just has not been accessible to people
who actually want to do.
And so what I want to see from you all,
and I'm sure you all don't have the answer now,
and so I would like to see it through the chair,
what you all are gonna actually do to make this thing work.
Because how far are you all behind in construction,
the actual permanent, um, casino,
Uh, as Chris Jewett with Bally's, as I had mentioned,
we're still targeting opening later this year,
or at least getting to substantial completion.
There are gating items, including the Chicago Avenue Bridge,
the Chicago Halstead, viaduct, Jefferson Avenue Street,
which is just getting permitted at this point in time.
Our goal is to open as soon as possible.
Uh, I would also welcome, uh, a specific meeting
with our leadership team and yourself
to address any specific questions, concerns,
uh, directly. If
I did this with y'all last time when we met
and nobody reached out, nobody called
me, nobody said anything.
And so I really, it is why I'm I why I want
to, so let me say this.
I don't want to see this fail
'cause people have invested a lot of time, a lot of energy,
and a lot of the taxpayers money into building this casino.
And so I need y'all
to do everything in y'all power to make sure this work.
And that means working with your elected officials.
You got 50 alders.
And in that list that you all put out,
you all only had one event with one alder.
I saw Peter Chico in the tent war. Nobody else.
I I need you all to actually to, to, to be at the forefront
of making this work and work with us.
And when you all are putting out these other casinos,
I wanna see all the ones in Illinois.
It is like y'all grab some from places not around.
And I've seen other temporary casinos
do better than this one.
So I'm trying to figure out what the problem is.
Um, you all do know that in Chinatown you can go
and get a bus and it can take you right to Indiana.
You all do know that, right?
Mm-hmm. People still are going to Indiana.
They are not visiting the one in Chicago A
'cause they don't know it's not well advertised.
And B, you all are not doing all that you can to make sure
that this, this, this thing actually works.
And so I don't wanna continue to
keep beating a dead horse
and saying to you all, Hey, talk to us, work with us.
Let's sit down. It is 50 of us.
Please don't make the mistake that a lot of people make.
It's 50 alders.
You all should be talking to every last one of us.
'cause everybody's award looks different.
Everybody has different constituency.
We all got a bunch of seniors that live in our award.
I know a bunch of organizations who put seniors on the bus
and take them to other casinos.
'cause this one is not ready. This one is not accessible.
This one is not talking or meeting with
or reaching out to those organ other organizations.
I need to see y'all do a better job.
Thank you Madam Chair.
Thank you. Ottoman Tam Al Ottoman Taylor.
Um, that was, that was one of the questions I was gonna ask,
but as in the report, it seems as if though
there are some things that ballot could do to help to,
um, elevate the advertisement of the casino here.
Um, when they first started, they did do some media
stuff, but now we see nothing.
And, um, you should do all you can just to,
to get the revenue that's here in the city.
Um, offer some incentive for the community
or people to go, uh, to try to increase that number.
That's pretty much.
Um, alderman s you had a pointer, something you wanted
to say followed by Al, uh, Nicole Lee?
Uh, yes ma'am. Chair. Um, it was, I it was,
I was just like, one more question, if that's okay.
Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
Um, so I just wanted to, um, just get confirmation.
So are we still, is the project still 1.7 billion?
That was a number that was floated a while,
Yeah. Yes. Okay.
Chris Stewart with Bies? Yes. Okay.
And, um, are we getting
for the 1.7 billion, are we getting like the, all the bells
and whistles that was initially advertised when we,
um, approved this project?
Yes, it in, it includes all the parking,
3000 seat theater, 500 room, hotel, food
and beverage offerings, uh,
and then obviously Casino River Walk.
Uh, I think it's about a two acre park.
We've got, um, the Jefferson Street, that's a,
a brand new City Street, you know, two levels, uh, all of
that in connection to West Chicago Avenue
and, uh, grand, those, that is all included in
that number. Okay,
Thank you. And then for
cdot, uh, with the Bridge
and some of the other infrastructure projects,
if you could provide to me the chair, who are some of the,
uh, the contractors that are,
and professional service folks that are working on
that project and where we're at as it relates to the goals
for that project as well.
Yes sir. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you Madam Chair.
Thank you. Um, like technology,
Ottoman Coleman, uh, for the purpose of, uh,
rule 59 quo.
Can I get a motion? So moved.
Alderman Irving. All in favor signify bystanding. Aye. Aye.
Um, Ottoman Coleman, you have your hand raised.
Did you have a comment?
Yes, ma'am. Thank you so much, chairman.
Um, and to everyone here, um, I just wanted
to, uh, compliment the smartest individual in that box.
And that is Ms. Monica Scott.
Uh, whatever doubts I had of Ally's,
she had certainly have been the face
and have shown me in Inglewood
and in the 16th ward what social responsibility looks like.
So I just wanted to compliment her.
Uh, I, I don't know if I feel some type of way
because the Inglewood Music Fest was not
included on that list.
Uh, that both Ms. Scott
and, uh, the brand, the organization came out
to share information about hiring as well as all
of the information shared today.
It was shared with us in September. Uh, happy New Year.
I look forward to, uh,
you continuing on the social responsibility,
social responsibility of this brand
and doing right by the city of Chicago.
Thank you. Uh, Adam, Nicole, uh, Nicole Lee,
Thank you Chair.
Um, and thank you to everybody that's here today.
I'm sorry, I joined a little bit late.
Um, not a committee member,
but have, uh, have had an ongoing interest, um, in the,
in the Bally's Casino here.
Um, I, I just wanted to echo
and pick up a little bit of, of what, uh,
alderman Coleman was just saying.
Obviously I've got Chinatown.
Um, we have regular buses several times a day from several
different locations in Chinatown.
Um, taking guests, uh, directly to the,
the Bally's Temporary Casino.
Um, and, and I also have folks in my community
who are employed at the casino as well.
Um, so I know that, uh, I know that they're,
they're out there in the community.
Monica is great.
Uh, the, the team there is
and we've, we've even had our,
our businesses included in the incentives program.
So I think that the, that the tools are there,
it sounds like there's, uh, some, some other opportunities,
uh, to, to reach out to different parts
of the war of the city.
Not just, I'm sorry, I was gonna say word.
I'm too used to just saying word, but across the city.
Um, so I would definitely encourage BS to continue to look
to grow those, um, those touch points to, to connect
because there are, there are, um, communities
that could definitely use the connection.
Um, and we want people, if they're going to be gaming to,
you know, keep it, keep it in the family, if you will, uh,
here in the city of Chicago.
Um, I, I think that is, you know, separately, um, something
that, uh, I I'm gonna be looking into is just
how we get a few more controls over the, the number
of buses that are coming in.
Um, essentially stealing away, uh,
potential gaming customers away from the city of Chicago.
Um, but I know it's not just limited to the, um,
to the transportation aspect of it.
Um, you know, we, we want the casino to be successful
and, uh, we'll do everything that we can to,
to help make that possible.
But I did wanna just, you know, acknowledge all of the work,
um, that, and the efforts
that have gone on in my community in
particular, 'cause I've seen that firsthand.
I think it's been very powerful.
Um, and, uh, hopefully the, the numbers will bear out as,
uh, as you get closer to completing the permanent casino
that we do ramp up more, um, uh, MBE spend, uh, with, uh,
contractors and companies, uh, within the city of Chicago.
So thank you. Thank
You Alman Coleman.
I mean, okay, no object.
We gonna trade places now.
Are there any other questions by committee members?
If not, I wanna certainly say thank you as well.
And please, uh, listen to the comments from the
members here who are out here working.
I would say that, um,
since there are casinos around, uh,
valleys, I would find out
or be looking at, what is it
that they see in these casinos that you could possibly mimic
at the new permitted casino at Ballard's to try
and keep these resources here in the city.
That's what we would wanna do. What is it?
What attracts them to certain ones, particularly, uh,
folks from Chicago, uh,
what makes them go to other location versus being here?
I suppose one of them here is the parking that would get it.
So we'll clear that one up.
But what are some of the other things that folks look to
and, and I think we can do just a better job
of just advertising, you know, so
Again, this is Amit Patel from uh, Valley's.
Um, I think you, you hit the nail on the head.
There's, there's perceptions about what we do today in,
in Medina and how it represents our operation versus,
I cannot stress enough to the whole community here.
By the time we open the doors of the prominent casino,
I can tell you in my sleep, it'll be the pride
of the entire community.
There is not a casino here, anywhere, anywhere close to us
that will have 3000 seat multi-level theater,
bringing national acts to a river walk experience.
And you don't have to gamble.
You can go to a rooftop restaurant, you can go
to a food hall, you can go and wander around with the parks
and, um, the, the, the food amenities that we have,
there is nothing like it anywhere close to
what we are building there.
If I see the renderings today and,
and we, I just happen to see one of the mockups that we did
for the theater and the rooms,
it gives me goosebumps today.
And I can assure you by the time you get to the property
and you see it live, you will see
that from the very first day of what we envision to deliver
is without a doubt, is, is what we are going
to be seeing all of us.
And then that's just not Bally's.
I feel very confident on behalf of all
of my colleagues in the company
that the minute anyone enters this building,
it'll be a pride of the community without a doubt.
And that's what attracts people.
That's what attracts visitors
and what we've seen in other markets.
It also attracts local residents to bring their families
and friends to just show
what an incredible pride in this community is
and how we've incorporated the city
of Chicago into every aspect of our operation.
And you'll be able to see that as well.
Very good. I think that, um, I just wanna mention we are
as elected officials often have
to sign off on the statement on Springfield
or the interaction with the casino.
Um, and I don't know if that's keeping you from making
contacts or someone reaching out to aldermans to make sure
or providing them
with the website information when you post it,
that it could be a great tool for someone in the office
to help get that information out for you.
Um, not that you're looking to do anything wrong
other than you have to notify them if you have
been contacted by someone, in other words, to lobby us.
So, uh, we are aware of that.
But at the same time, thank you
for the work that you're doing.
We are looking for even, uh, greater work to be done
and can't wait till the opening for, um,
the casino here in the city of Chicago.
I get tired of family members coming here
and then they want to go to the casino.
Uh, nobody wants
to come downtown, that's the thing.
So maybe you could even do some buses instead
of taking 'em into an, why don't you consider doing
that in the meantime?
Anything that could help generate your revenue.
'cause they're gonna spend the money somewhere.
So thank you all so much for your work.
Looking forward to continuing to work with you
and, um, keep pushing forward.
So thanks everyone for all the departments. Thank you.
Thank you. Is there any further
business before this committee?
Any other question? There'll be none.
Uh, can I get a motion to adjourn? So moved.
This meeting is adjourned. This.