CHICAGO | City Casino

[glowrock]

I think the Bally's proposals actually look pretty damned good overall. I'm definitely a fan of the Marshalling Yards location. I think it has the least chance of being attacked by NIMBYs plus the main building is low-slung, meaning only the main hotel tower is going to make any statement on the skyline. The design seems decent, especially for the main building. Access seems to be well-planned, so that's another huge plus.

Honestly, I don't really like the idea of having the casino complex in River North. I've always believed McCormick is a much better location overall.

Aaron (Glowrock)

[k1052]

While I'm not in love will all aspects of the Ballys proposals at least it looks like we're not going to get a blank suburban shed surrounded by surface parking if these are an indication of the caliber of the other proposals too. Which is a relief.

[sentinel]

Wow, just give it to Bally's, either location (although my favorite is the one near McCormick Place)

[Briguy]

They absolutely CANNOT put what looks to be a 1500+ car garage at halsted and Chicago. No freaking way. No way on this damn earth. Halsted is a parking lot as is from 3pm to 8pm from lake to Fullerton.

Halsted is the only n-s road between the north side and west side between lasalle and Ashland. I can barely ride my bike through the traffic as is. This proposal will also nix any possibility of a north branch transit way.

Not to mention there should be 10000 housing units and several million ft2 offices on that site.

This is the worst proposal for what is probably the best site left in Chicago. We are not some bombed out Detroit or Cincinnati whoring their best sites out to the highest bidder for a few million dollars.


Could not think of a worse idea.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by glowrock

I think the Bally's proposals actually look pretty damned good overall. I'm definitely a fan of the Marshalling Yards location. I think it has the least chance of being attacked by NIMBYs plus the main building is low-slung, meaning only the main hotel tower is going to make any statement on the skyline. The design seems decent, especially for the main building. Access seems to be well-planned, so that's another huge plus.

Honestly, I don't really like the idea of having the casino complex in River North. I've always believed McCormick is a much better location overall.

Aaron (Glowrock)

Agreed - I prefer the McCormick of the two from Bally's. The Tribune site isn't bad, but it looks constrained, while the plan for McCormick looks elegant and spacious. The location is much better for something like this as well, and I love how it's along the lake.

[left of center]

The renderings look impressive (I hope Bally's gets it!), but I am not the biggest fan of the two sites. I would prefer a south side/south central area location, so the Tribune site to me isn't ideal (plus everything said previously about the traffic on Halsted). As for the south site, it looks more airy and less constrained than the Tribune site, but do we really need to put a casino on the lakefront? I think something along/closer to Motor Row would be a better spot, although space there is an issue as well.

[CrazyCres]

I like what Ballys has shown so far with the truck site being my preferred option out of the two. It's a good start.

However, my reservations remain open as Hard Rock and Rivers have yet to release any details about their plans.

[Randomguy34]

There's gonna be a lot of pushback from Bronzeville residents, who have said throughout the decade they do not want a casino on/near the Michael Reese site. Ald. King already said she doesn't want a casino in her ward, so that pretty much seals the fate of the Marshalling Yards casino. Plus the site is planned for phase 3 of Bronzeville Lakefront where, depending on the success of phase 1 &2, they're imagining +800 ft towers.

The renderings for the Tribune site would be fine if this was proposed in Rosemont. For Fulton River District however, this is pretty disappointing. The proposal could still work if the Design Committee threw their weight and required specific changes. The garage directly abutting at the intersection should be the biggest change, at least move it underground.

Here's hoping the 78 and McCormick Place designs are a significant improvement

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

There's gonna be a lot of pushback from Bronzeville residents, who have said throughout the decade they do not want a casino on/near the Michael Reese site. Ald. King already said she doesn't want a casino in her ward, so that pretty much seals the fate of the Marshalling Yards casino. Plus the site is planned for phase 3 of Bronzeville Lakefront where, depending on the success of phase 1 &2, they're imagining +800 ft towers.

I don’t think all three casino groups would have proposed a McCormick Place site if there hadn’t been some behind-the-scenes conversation with the alderman.

The Marshalling Yards are quite the restricted area with only Moe Dr. and the 27th Metra station for access which is quite different than a casino in the middle of the neighborhood in Michael Reese or Motor Row or Stateway Gardens.

And Phase 3 of the Bronzeville Lakefront is not a real plan. It was practical to rezone all the land in the vicinity at once instead of rehashing the process all over in Year 2050. But Phase 1 and 2 will not be complete until 2041. Also I don’t believe Bronzeville Lakefront even owns the truck yards. They belong to MPEA, I think.

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...eck_101420.pdf

[lakeshoredrive]

Until the other plans are revealed, right now I am for the Bally's site on the marshalling yard. It is a good use of the space I think. And it could end up being an economic catalyst for the Bronzeville/Michael Reese development site in the future.

The other site is too constricting like the other poster said. I don't think it would work well in that area. However hats off to the idea of using the old printing plant as a temporary site. I actually like that.

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

I don’t think all three casino groups would have proposed a McCormick Place site if there hadn’t been some behind-the-scenes conversation with the alderman.

The Marshalling Yards are quite the restricted area with only Moe Dr. and the 27th Metra station for access which is quite different than a casino in the middle of the neighborhood in Michael Reese or Motor Row or Stateway Gardens.

And Phase 3 of the Bronzeville Lakefront is not a real plan. It was practical to rezone all the land in the vicinity at once instead of rehashing the process all over in Year 2050. But Phase 1 and 2 will not be complete until 2041. Also I don’t believe Bronzeville Lakefront even owns the truck yards. They belong to MPEA, I think.

https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/...eck_101420.pdf

On page 5 of that document under "Community Benefits" it lists:

No Casino on Michael Reese Site, Marshalling Yards or Advocate Site

Not saying it's impossible, but there's gonna be resistance.

[jpIllInoIs]

Kudos to Bally's temporary build on the Trib site. Displaying an awareness that generating interim revenue would benefit all stakeholders. Concern about traffic are legit but those need to be addressed for the Casino or the Office/Res plans.

Im concerned about the truck marshall are based on fear that it turns out like the Atlantic City are where Casinos turn their back on the urban area.

Still like LS Center pending renders. 78 does not need the casino to thrive.

[Sky88]

The McCormick Place site project seems to me the best with the possibility of a possible expansion in nearby areas and with the great possibility of propose again a 2,000 ft observation tower nearby.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Briguy

They absolutely CANNOT put what looks to be a 1500+ car garage at halsted and Chicago. No freaking way. No way on this damn earth. Halsted is a parking lot as is from 3pm to 8pm from lake to Fullerton.

Halsted is the only n-s road between the north side and west side between lasalle and Ashland. I can barely ride my bike through the traffic as is. This proposal will also nix any possibility of a north branch transit way.

Not to mention there should be 10000 housing units and several million ft2 offices on that site.

This is the worst proposal for what is probably the best site left in Chicago. We are not some bombed out Detroit or Cincinnati whoring their best sites out to the highest bidder for a few million dollars.


Could not think of a worse idea.

Good Lord, calm down, it's just a stupid RFP response proposal with pretty renderings. IF this was even selected, the actual development may not look at all like what these preliminary renderings show. "...probably the best site left in Chicago", that's absolutely silly.

And if you think a 1,500+ car garage is gonna cause traffic, then you are in for the shock of a lifetime when the '10,000 housing units and several million square feet of offices' actually start materializing in other mega developments all over Goose Island, literally a couple of blocks from this site. Good luck riding your bike through that...

[Mister Uptempo]

As others have stated, the Marshalling Yards option might be a big lift, but could depend on whether area residents see the massive traffic generated by the casino as beneficial, driving customers to their businesses, or a hassle snarling the area, with drivers by-passing neighborhood shops and restaurants to get to the hermetically sealed, self-sustaining island that Bally's has been structured to be.

The plan leans heavily on Moe Dr., as galleyfox mentioned, but also 31st Street. Access to the south parking structure looks to be off D-LSD's 31st Street exit and onto (what will be) "Lower" Moe Dr. Anyone driving to the casino northbound on the Ryan will likely exit at 31st Street and head east to the complex.

Many of the new features identified as community benefits in Phase 1 of Bronzeville Lakefront (senior housing, innovation/welcoming center, park, etc,) are along 31st Street.

Better access could be provided on the north end of the complex if the self storage on 25th east of MLK were to be torn down and new lanes were built east of a reconfigured intersection at 25th and King(and a reconfigured King Dr. exit off the Stevenson), going over the Metra Electric lines and connecting to "Lower" Moe. That would provide direct access to Bally's from the Stevenson.

The curved drive off "Lower" Moe onto "Upper" Moe at the north end of the complex rules out any physical connection between it and McCormick Place, whereas Bluhm's Lakeside proposal already has one.

[marothisu]

The 2 proposals are interesting and I don't mind either of them. I actually don't think the final plan for the Chicago Tribune site is that bad. Yes it's constrained but the final product could look worse. As others have said, hopeful that some committees can cause them all to make some positive changes.

From a cohesion perspective, I do like the Tribune site as you also have Halsted Point slated for around the corner, which at the end of the day will probably have 5000+ residents. The only thing to worry about here is traffic which already isn't very optimal. The Blue Line is not far away which is nice, and I'm sure they can do things with water taxis. I'd be interested to see some sort of master plan if there is any for making sure that area wouldn't become a nightmare. And with Lincoln Yards not going far away...could be a big "oof" with all this there? Just doesn't seem like there's actual much in the way of legitimate new transit planning going on here with all these projects.

The Marshalling Yards is an interesting pick. Kind of in an interesting area but the renderings definitely give it a "close to the action but away from it" vibe. From a cohesion perspective though it's not great with respective to the rest of downtown though you could walk there from McCormick Place under I-55. The 27th St Metra station is there which I'm pretty sure next to nobody uses. Might be hard given the Alderman and some residents saying they don't want a casino there. This site is probably better traffic wise over the other one unless the other one has a big plan with everything else going on.

From a supporting other communities perspective, the Tribune site is better IMO as workers can commute there via public transit if they want since it's not terribly far from the Blue line, which you can transfer to from almost every other train line.

Honestly my pick out of those 2 would be the Tribune site as long as there is some sort of big plan for making sure the traffic and transit is taken care of.

I'm waiting for The 78 site though as I think when coupled with the upcoming Red Line stop there might actually be better from a location perspective than either one of these.

[left of center]

Are the proposals for the Marshalling Yards being built over them with active use of the yards remaining underneath, or are they being replaced completely? Are they not needed for staging at McCormick Place, or are those activities being moved to a different area?

[Kngkyle]

Not a fan of either the Tribune or Marshalling Yard sites. Of the two I'd give the nod to the Marshalling Yard simply because there's no hope of that scar being developed in the next 30 years otherwise.

The other three sites are all better - The 78, McCormick (east?), and One Central (if this is the Hard Rock bid? I'd be surprised if there was no bid for One Central).

[Randomguy34]

^ Now that you mention it, there aren't many nearby sites for the McCormick/Lakeside proposals to fulfill the hotel component of the RFP. Crains mentioned rumors about One Central being connected to the casino bid in some way, so maybe they're providing the hotel connection while the actual casino is in McCormick/Lakeside.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by left of center

Are the proposals for the Marshalling Yards being built over them with active use of the yards remaining underneath, or are they being replaced completely? Are they not needed for staging at McCormick Place, or are those activities being moved to a different area?

I was going to ask the same question