Committee votes to approve Bally's Tribune casino proposal
Hello #chicago, I will be Live-tweeting the Special Committee on the Chicago Casino meeting at 1pm CST on behalf of #CHIDocumenters @CHIdocumenters
12:11 PM May 23, 2022 CDT
@CHIdocumenters The meeting will be called to order once members return from lunch, expect another 5-10 minute delay.
The meetings agenda includes two items, 1, An ordinonce omending Titles 2, 4, B ond l7 of the Municipol Code regording o cosino in the Cify of Chicogo (02022-131ó) (Direct lntroduction to the Committee on 5-9-221, and…
item 2, A resolution concerning the development and operation of a casino in the City of Chicago.
The reconvening of the Special Committee on the Chicago Casino is called to order at 1:23pm.
A revised substitute ordinance is presented. Ald. Ervin moves to pass. It passes.
Jenny Huang Bennet Chief Financial Officer is now speaking. Over the last months, through four special meetings, a culmination of three years since the legislation passed in 2019.
2022: On March 22nd, three finalists were chosen. On April 5, community meetings on the location took place. The casino will pay 2.3 million and bolter police and fire pension funds. 3000 jobs in construction and 3000 in Casino operations will be created.
The project comes in a time when peer cities offer gaming, places that take visitors away from Chicago, from Samir Mayekar.
Thomas Tunney says that originally the legislation had too much of a tax rate, now it is 43%.
Bennet says that McCormick Place says that there would need to be adjustments and replacement spaces if an operating casino will function alongside their convention space.
What sold the day for the mayor was the fact that Bally’s had a number of things going for them. They will have no competing ventures. They set the bar with the 40 million upfront payment.
They were the first to establish the labor peace. There is total confidence on a labor peace agreement to construction and operation.
Bally’s offers a crowdsourcing mechanism by offering a more equity with participation with investing.
Mayekar says that all finalists were encouraged to choose locations central to the city.
The Medinah Temple is slated to be the temporary housing for the Bally’s Casino https://www.chicagobusiness.com/commercial-real-estate/temporary-chicago-casino-slated-medinah-temple
They will dedicate $5 million dollars a year to security as part of their effort to enhance public safety.
There is a good faith effort from Bally’s to reduce the square footage of the permanent location by about 2.4 million square feet.
Ald. Erwin has a concern with the crowdsourcing and how it will play out without IGB rules. Bennet says that Bally’s and IGB have communicated about the construct not working, but that their concern is equity participation.
Ald. Erwin asks about the circumstance of the construct not working. Bennet says that whoever does join has to meet IGB standards.
The hiring requirement for the operations of the casino is 60% minority and a majority of Chicago residents.
Bennet says that if there is an issue with Bally’s cooperation, there are high liquidated challenges that would protect the city.
Ald. Reilly says that in each hearing where they asked questions, there have been adjustments. He wants to clarify that Ballys did not come to the labor peace agreement on their own, but after the push from the committee.
He asks that if there is a temporary casino, and no parking spaces, how many jobs are there for Unite Here for parking valets? Zero, he says, because there is no parking.
Ald. Reilly asks Christopher Jewett asks how many non-union jobs will there be. A response will be given shortly.
The revenue projections are not based on gaming, but on projections. Reilly says that in order to make the projections the casino would have to win 1.4 million per day. The casino would need to see 9300 patrons a every day for a year.
Would Ballys commit to their projection if they don’t make that rate? Bennet says that minimum guarantees has the detriment of reducing the upfront value.
On the minority commitments, if crowdsourcing is rejected from the gaming board what is the backup plan, asks Reilly. Bennet says that the construct would not stop them from advocating for minority commitment.
On the Medinah Temple site, Reilly is confused how the site was selected. There is contradiction from whose choice it was. Mayekar says that the Sheraton and Medinah Temple were the recommended places based on engagement
Mayekar says that this locations were chosen for infrastructure, no one individuals chose the location. Reilly asks, do any of the individuals live downtown? Mayekar cannot speak to that.
Bennet says there was feasibility study and where to maximize revenues, and the findings were a centralized downtown location would be best. The constrictions were how the Medinah Temple was selected.
Ald. Villegas asks how the workforce agreements will be oversight. Bennet says that the Department of Procurement and the CFO will account for those agreements. The ordinance requires that these reports be made public to the city council.
Ald. Erwin asks about the Sociological Disadvantaged Areas and whether those boundaries can be moved. Bennet says that the map is codified by the Department of Planning. The minority workforce can be chosen outside of that map.
Ald. Villegas says there are no Latino members of the construction of the Casino. Miguel d’Escoto says that CCBC will be the builders and they will choose the contractors, and that since they are involved, there will definitely be Latino contractors.
Ald. Burnett says that the main thing he spoke with d’Escoto about was that Latino contractors be sought out. He says that there were exclusivity on some of the contractors while bidding was going on.
Ald. Cardenas asks about the environmental impact of the project. Since they are building by the river and there is a climate change action plan, how will this be affected as well. Do we have support of friends of the river?
Mayekar says that Ballys will commit to a LEED Gold Status. They will adhere to river building guidelines.
Joyen Vakil, senior vice president of design and development at Ballys, says that the commitment to LEED Gold will hopefully be the baseline. He says that in light of this special meeting, ironically, their meeting with friends of the river was rescheduled.
Ald. Rodriguez asks about the commitments from Ballys about reporting about construction makeup. Bennet says that she or her replacement will be on top of reporting on those minority goals.
Ald. Vasquez asks about the upfront payment and when it will added to the budget. Bennet says it will be applied to the 2023 fiscal year.
Vasquez asks about the entertainment revenues, (212 million at 2027 is projected, first full year in the perm location). He asks about the other entities being hired for those purposes.
Christopher Jewett says that third party operators will adhere to their theme, Best of Chicago. They will work with independent venues to bring in local, regional and national acts.
Ald. Moore asks about the sports wagering rules and regulation and whether they will adhere to those that were recently approved. Bennet says they are subjected to those guidelines and those dollars will go into the general fund.
Projected revenues for sport wagering, less than 2% of total revenue.
Those hypothetical failures to the minority requirements would result a liquidated damage and requirement to fill those absences according to Bennet.
HCA requires someone be appointed to check on minority requirements, says Bennet. Tracey Wiley, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, says that there will be someone on the ground from the community to provide oversight.
Ald. Moore asks if the council can be appointment. From the ethics committee, that can prove to be problematic with rules in the bylaws but they are in communication about the council’s role.
Chris Jewett of Ballys says that a hiring firm will be used to be in compliance with laws. Diversity hiring firms are currently being sought out from them.
Ald. Moore asks whether it will be a public space and whether homeless individuals will be discriminated upon. The IGB, Illinois Gaming Board, does place restrictions but Bennet defers to Ballys for that question.
Ameet Patel says that they will have the same guidelines on solicitation and will work with the authorities to ensure the safety of patrons. Ald. Moore presses on asks about if there will be a specific guideline on who can come in.
Patel says there will be guidelines on appearance that everyone will have to adhere to, but no particular discrimination guidelines will be made toward homeless individuals.
Mayekar says that the public engagement tool was used to formulate questions, a log of which will be made available to the council.
Ald. Osterman asks about Bennet’s reporting as CFO and the possible continuation of the committee. Bennet says that a website will hold all the documents in relation to the casino.
Osterman asks about the temporary site and when it would be up and running, how long? QT2 of 2023 is the projected launch date with two to three years in that location.
Ald. Smith asks for them to account for the pension obligation. Bennet says that the pension parts that are corporate funded, its municipal.
Ald. Osterman asks about a special fund for casino revenues. Bennet says there will be a designated space to look at those numbers.
Ald. Waguespack asks about community impact assessments and whether those will be made relevant to the project development meeting.
Ald. Hadden comments on the timing of the decision. Is there a statutory deadline before this process has to start over? Bennet says that the city is in the process of planning for the budget process, and they dont know how long the IGB process will take.
“How does the casino fit into the vision of the city?”, asks Hadden. In 15 years, is this how we will look about developments on the riverfront? Mayekar says that its important for the planning division fit into the transitional zoning.
From a planning perspective, the site is very compelling, says Mayekar. Hadden asks, what’s next? Mayekar says theres the Morton Salt development in addition to the Lincoln Yard development in the spirit of the north branch development.
Ald. Smith clarifies that the north branch development never involved talk of a casino. The reason that Ballys was awarded the site, was because no one approved of it. So, to say that its robust and follows the plan is contradictory.
Ald. Hopkins says that the North Branch plan acts to revitalize the river. The agreement with Ballys shows none of the same compromise that lincoln yards had to agree with.
Joyen Vakil says that they are developing a project that is complimentary to the riverwalk, and will not spill out.
Ald. Reilly has adjusted math and the numbers are still astronomical. On the traffic analysis, there are alt modes of transportation, but knowing how casinos operate, the traffic analysis is deficit.
Not a single dollar will be made toward making land changes to the area around the temporary space. What Reilly is concerned about is that the casino has the obligation to get the person safely to their cars.
Ameet Patel says they will be working with the parking garage operators, escorting patrons to those locations. These plans are highly vetted and will be sent to the IGB for approval.
Ald. Reilly says there are criminal instances at these garages while there is already security. The temp site has two million for public safety and five million for security each year says Bennet.
In regards to Ancillary documents, the radius restriction agreements will be made available to the council.
Every hearing we’ve had involved improvements, he encourages every alderperson to use this last chance to improve the deal.
Bennet says that restricting the demographic of those who can buy a share from the minority shareholder to only other minorities will decrease the worth of that share.
There is no minimum annual guarantee in the contract. Is there any recourse to not meeting that guarantee asks ald. Hopkins. He says he has no confidence in the ability to make 200 million a year and rejects the proposal.
Bennet says that the parking meter deal was a mistake, but that this deal is about benefitting from an enterprise the city would have a stake in.
Ald. Burnett says that the court reporting won’t help Alderpeople speak on concerns from individuals from their communities. If we postpone this, how will we meet those fiscal gaps?
Ald. Erwin moves to pass the substitute resolution and ordinance with a roll call vote. Alderperson Sophia King is recused because her husband is a lawyer involved in the Ballys proceedings.
The motion has 27 yeas and 3 nays, Hopkins, Reilly and Smith. A motion to adjourn has been made and is so moved. This concludes my reporting on the Special Committee on the Chicago Casino.