[twister244]

Overall - I liked the Bally's presentation much more than Hard Rock's

1 - The actually discussed how the casino will integrate with the local neighborhoods. The spent time discussing changes to local streetlight configurations, etc. They went into more detail than Hard Rock did.

2 - They really highlight integration with the environment, and along the river. They discussed how the project will look compared to other buildings that may (or may not) get built in this area.

3 - They actually appear to have a plan to incorporate local restaurants. Hard Rock did not.

4 - While several people clapped during critical questions, there was a surprising applause during a comment praising the development and how it will add to the neighborhood.

BVictor1 did a great job highlighting how a bridge existed until 1971... and is not actually a good thing here. Thanks for doing that BVictor1!

For me, Bally's definitely outperformed here against Hard Rock. But..... As I said last night:
1 - Hard Rock has the experience and capital
2 - They can get a project up and out quickly, which ultimately is what the city cares about most.

But.... Hard Rock really distanced themselves from the surrounding neighborhood, and One Central. The Bally's group really embraced the local neighborhood.

Side note - I Really liked the little trick they played with traffic increase.
"Well yeah... there will be more increase with a casino versus a printing building. But.... look at what would be if we don't get chosen!" They are basically saying that this area is going to get built out with density regardless of Bally's being chosen or not.