Bally’s proposed plans to build a $1.6 billion casino at the McCormick Place Truck Marshaling Yard on Chicago’s South Side could face some hurdles due to a 2017 agreement the land owner made with another developer.
As one of its two proposals for a Chicago casino, the operator is expected to explain during a December 16 meeting how it plans to build a casino there when GRIT Chicago LLC already has a letter of intent to redevelop the property, which is now used as a parking lot for trucks making deliveries to nearby McCormick Place, according to Chicago Business Journal.
The letter of intent is good until May 2023 and the land is not for sale, according to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns the 1.2 million-square-foot property. “The letter of intent is for a long-term lease, not for a sale. MPEA’s letter of intent with GRIT Chicago LLC was entered into on May 21, 2020,” Cynthia McCafferty, a spokeswoman for the MPEA, told the cited news website.
“The agreement states that so long as GRIT is proceeding diligently and in good faith to pursue its redevelopment of the Marshaling Yards, MPEA will not market, sell, lease, or otherwise transfer or encumber any portion of the MPEA Marshalling Yards or enter into any discussion, negotiation, or agreement to do so with any party other than GRIT for at least 36 months,” she said.
McCafferty added that whoever redevelops the Marshaling Yards also must address where the McCormick Place trucks would be parked. Based on a 2017 Request for Proposals, developers cannot negotiate with the MPEA to develop the property, which is located at 3040 Moe Drive.
Bally’s says it has no plans to withdraw its proposal for the Marshaling Yards. “Negotiating a lease agreement will be up to the city and the relevant authorities, in this case MPEA,” Christopher Jewett, Bally’s director of Corporate Development, told the Chicago Business Journal. “We believe a casino resort destination at the McCormick truck Marshaling Yard would transform this currently underutilized site into a source of tax revenue for the city and should strongly be considered.”
The company’s second casino proposal is at Chicago Tribune Publishing Center, 777 W. Chicago Ave., but Jewett said the Marshaling Yards is an ideal location for a casino. “That’s one of the best pieces of real estate in the city in our eyes,” added Jewett. “Conveniently located off Lakeshore Drive at 31st Street, it has great access to the expressway.”
McCafferty said a decision on whether Bally’s can jump ahead of GRIT to redevelop the land may come down to its board of directors.
The other two casino operators bidding against Bally’s for a license from the Illinois Gaming Board are Rush Street Gaming and Hard Rock International. Their proposed locations do not include the Marshaling Yards but are both near the McCormick Place and Soldier Field.
GRIT is a consortium of local developers Farpoint Development, Loop Capital Management, Draper & Kramer, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, McLaurin Development Partners, and Bronzeville Community Development Partnership. It is working with Rush Street for its South Side proposal to renovate the vacant Lakeside Center, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, which is adjacent to the McCormick Place.
