I'm in my 30s but definitely remember having to actually ask for directions, plan it out in advance, etc - not have any cell phones. I still remember by heart a few land line phone numbers of the parents of some of my best friends even though I haven't called those numbers in over a decade. Hell, I still remember my dad's office phone number by heart somehow
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Id put it at the old Fisk power station. Restore the industrial early 20th century architecture and keep developing the south branch of the river.
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^ Good to see. I'm still not convinced that casino gambling is the silver bullet for our fiscal problems, but if done smartly it could at least provide some boost to the city's bottom line.
I doubt we'll see any further movement on the casino this year as operators are not in an expansion mode, but perhaps next year the city will be able to launch a formal RFP. I'd rather see a process where developers are allowed to choose their own site and have the location be part of the evaluation. My fear is that we end up with a suburban style casino in the wrong spot, like in Detroit, Pittsburgh, St Louis or Cincinnati. Those poor decisions will stymie downtown development and do not really help the brand of a thriving downtown. Boston got a suburban casino, but put it in an industrial area of Everett which is okay. Detroit's Greektown Casino and New Orleans Harrah's are better examples of downtown casinos but still leave MUCH to be desired. If operators will insist on a suburban design then we should at least put the casino in some industrial area on the South Branch, or next to Sox Park. A more urban design opens up many other options for location - Motor Row, Fulton Market, United Center area, Goose Island, etc. Macau has a lot of smaller casinos that fit into urban neighborhoods and could be a good model. |
OneCentral is the ideal location for the casino in my view. It would nicely tie into the tourism traffic that McCormick Place gets as well as Soldier Field. I'm sure the local residents would throw a fit though.
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Can we get a massive boat? It could cycle between McCormick Place and Navy Pier.
Maybe after all the cruise companies go out of business they could steal one of their boats. |
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https://www.inquirer.com/resizer/GZN...RLLNNP3J4E.jpg by Jacob Adelman, Updated: March 11, 2020 NYC developer seeks home for historic SS United States after planned rebirth as hotel. https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate...-20200311.html We could get that ship:) |
^ Sadly, much bigger than Seawaymax.
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I tend to agree regarding putting it in or close to downtown. For one reason or another, I don't think it would be as successful as if you put it in some random far flung place say south of South Shore along the lake. You'd get far more tourist dollars by keeping it close to downtown. By all means, hire people who need it but put the thing near downtown.
In my own mind, the casino should play to a lot of people whether high rollers or not. You could probably make it the type of place where a high roller actually wants to be seen rolling up to it. I think that it would become more successful the more you can appeal to tourists (and probably some high rollers) to spend some money there. Just my 2 cents though. |
Tribune Media’s River District interests buyers as potential casino site
The 37-acre waterfront site went up for sale in February 18 https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4iQy...district.0.jpg https://chicago.curbed.com/2019/8/8/...strict-tribune There's the river district as well |
“Mayor Lightfoot on next steps on Chicago casino development....We will start process with focus groups, studies & surveys on location and desired amenities. "I see this as a large entertainment district" not just box of casino to maximize once in generation opportunity at revs...”
”...jobs, long term economic viability, pension funding help...."We have to be thoughtful and intentional about what we are designing so it is something that attracts people from all over the world....we need a world class entertainment district" that casino is part of.....“ https://mobile.twitter.com/Yvette_BB...58464873902083 https://mobile.twitter.com/Yvette_BB...58546700570625 I would assume the suburban box casino is out of the question. But It also doesn’t sound like it’s going to be slotted into an existing strong entertainment district if it’s feasible to go bigger. |
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I'd love to see a grand casino in Marshall Fields once Macy's inevitably folds.
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Reading between the lines, can this be anywhere other than Motor Row?
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I think somewhere in Motor Row makes more sense though. Any large historic building in that area which is looking for redevelopment? I would also say a few intersections at 23rd and Wabash for new development, but I think on one corner a residential building would probably complain about it.. Hate to say it too, but somewhere in West Loop could make some sense too - Damen stop supposed to open next year right? Couldn't imagine traffic during a game night though.. |
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-Profitable -Convenient access to existing tourist infrastructure —Without competing against existing tourist and convention venues -Connect with and attract new international tourists —Offer a unique casino experience among worldwide rivals -Revitalize a struggling area (Does not favor the North Side) —Employ the disadvantaged without exploiting poor neighborhoods -Safe, Easy to patrol against criminals https://chicago.suntimes.com/platfor...inment-complex |
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Then it could be connected to the McCormick Place skyway network and contribute to convention hotel capacity as well. It's also very close to Chinatown, Wintrust Arena and not crazy far from Soldier Field. McCormick Place parking could be used, for the most part I think. Transit access would be decent (close to Green Line, 1, 3, 4, 21, 29 and not too far from the Red Line either, although that block feels longer than it is). |
^ You would think any smart casino operator would want to avoid the image of organized crime, no? I don't disagree with the 1920s theme, especially if we get a Greektown Casino-esque complex in Motor Row, but they'll have to be a little more subtle than that.
Glad to see that Lightfoot is still thinking big on this one. The proof is in the pudding, though, everybody says "world class" but few actually bother to take a look around the world to see the competition. And the city will ultimately be constrained by what the licensee is willing or not willing to do, with regards to design. I do like the idea of a temporary site, as well... get a huge cavernous building like the Freedom Center and gussy it up with decorations and slot machines. If an operator can start collecting money sooner, it may be easier to persuade them to spend more money on good design. I would love it if we got a vertical casino like Altira in Macau... compact site, large hotel tower, no huge windowless podium (well, it is windowless but they gave it the Times Square treatment). We had cocktails there, it was super luxury, gorgeous inside and out: https://goo.gl/maps/Q4kt9TS1xivKT3PD7 |
^ I don't know, I think they should just own it. Call it Al Capone's Casino and tourists will flock there.
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