It’s Not Rosemont
The Illinois Gaming Board in late December chose Des Plaines and Midwest Gaming for the state’s 10th and last casino license, picking it over Rosemont and Waukegan. The vote was 3-1, ending four years of agonizing by the state board on what to do with the license. And the decision apparently came down to the only bid that was not tainted.
In doing so it passed over a much higher bid from a developer that wanted to build in Rosemont, which is still seen as having too much “mob influence.” A second bidder also suffered from problem relationships.
The winner was Chicago developer Neil Bluhm, who heads Midwest Gaming. Bluhm has recently become a true force in gaming, but has always been very well-connected in Illinois. He has directly won a license for a Philadelphia casino, SugarHouse, and indirectly controls the sole license in Pittsburgh, which was originally awarded to Majestic Gaming’s Don Barden.
Midwest Gaming won the bid despite the fact it may cannibalize the market for nearby casinos, Grand Victoria in Elgin and Hollywood Casino in Aurora.
Bluhm plans a 50,000-square-foot casino riverboat, a parking garage, four restaurants and two hotels. He plans to start construction as soon as the state process, which includes a background check on his investment group, concludes. Once building starts it will be about a year and a half before the riverboat opens for business. He will be redeveloping 20 acres of existing office buildings in the southeast corner of the city, which, ironically, is near the border of the village of Rosemont.
The runners-up were Trilliant Gaming (controlled by former MGM Grand President Alex Yemenidijian) for Rosemont, and Waukegan Gaming. Trilliant’s bid was $435 million, Waukegan Gaming’s bid was $225 million and Midwest’s $125 million. Des Plaines and Rosemont, which are both near O’Hare Airport, had argued that they would be able to tap that large reservoir of travelers.
Waukegan, the only non-Chicago area finalist, was also the only one of the three that actually qualifies as a “depressed city,” and thus in need of the economic shot in the arm that a casino would provide. Waukegan is located near the Wisconsin border.
Rosemont’s seamy past and reputation kept it from being chosen. “Rosemont is tainted by reputation,” commented a board member. “Organized crime still controls much of the life of the village of Rosemont,” said another.
Four years ago the then-mayor of Rosemont, Don Stephens, was investigated by the state attorney general for alleged organized crime ties. The city later lost out on a casino, although not for that reason. The casino license was idle during the interim.
Ironically, the board’s decision may not be popular with the citizens of Des Plaines itself, who in a 1994 referendum voted against a casino. The city will reap $25 million annually from taxes, although to get the casino it promised to give $10 million of that to the state.
