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Lightfoot pushes back casino application deadline, hoping to draw some action to the table
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 8/6/2021 | Mitchell Armentrout

Posted on 08/09/2021 11:55:16 AM PDT by simpson96

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday announced she’s pushing back the deadline for bids to build a long-sought casino in Chicago as the city looks to lure more developers to the table.

Proposals for the mega-casino had been due Aug. 23, but interested parties now have until Oct. 29, giving groups “more time to fully assess” the opportunity and “assemble more competitive bid packages,” according to Lightfoot’s office.

“Extending the deadline for interested bidders will allow the City to collect as many robust, impactful and transformative proposals as possible,” the mayor said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing these bids roll in and working very closely with whichever team is ultimately chosen to develop Chicago’s first-ever casino.”

Lightfoot’s office said “several potential bidders sought additional time.”

But operators have had more than two years to mull a run for the potential big-city cash cow, which was authorized as part of a massive statewide gambling expansion signed into law in 2019 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

After winning a legislative fix in Springfield to lower a tax rate that a state-hired consultant deemed “too onerous” for any casino operator to make a profit, Lightfoot put out a formal request for proposals in April.

This latest two-month delay could signal a lack of interest in what some industry experts still consider a risky proposition, even after the sky-high tax rate was lowered from an effective rate of about 72% to 40%. The leaders of corporate gaming giants MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts and Caesars Entertainment have already said they’ll pass on the project.

“I’ve got no interest in Chicago,” Caesars CEO Tom Reeg said during a quarterly call with investors earlier this week.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicago.suntimes.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: chicago; ellafrench; illinois; lorilightfoot; mediawingofthednc; partisanmediashill; partisanmediashills

1 posted on 08/09/2021 11:55:16 AM PDT by simpson96
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To: simpson96

HOPING FOR MORE BRIBES....................


2 posted on 08/09/2021 11:58:38 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: simpson96
impactful

I think that is an Ebonics word...

;-)
3 posted on 08/09/2021 12:01:41 PM PDT by cgbg (A kleptocracy--if they can keep it. Think of it as the Cantillon Effect in action.)
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To: simpson96

Put it in the Chatham neighborhood. Should be perfectly fine there. (pew pew pew!)


4 posted on 08/09/2021 12:02:52 PM PDT by BBQToadRibs2
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To: Red Badger

Maybe, but Covid is a factor.


5 posted on 08/09/2021 12:06:07 PM PDT by pepsionice
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To: simpson96

“I’ve got no interest in Chicago,”

Get used to hearing that, Lori.


6 posted on 08/09/2021 12:07:01 PM PDT by simpson96
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To: simpson96

If someone steals from the casino, will it be prosecuted? This might be an issue for me if I were a casino developer.


7 posted on 08/09/2021 12:09:41 PM PDT by The Free Engineer
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To: simpson96

>>“Extending the deadline for interested bidders will allow the City to collect as many robust, impactful and transformative proposals as possible,” the mayor said <<

IOW bigger bribes.

And she will get away with it, in plain sight.


8 posted on 08/09/2021 12:09:56 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (The democrats have just replaced KKK with CRT. /Kevin McCarty 7/6/21)
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To: cgbg

>>impactful

I think that is an Ebonics word...

;-)

<<

How will you be able to judge the impactosity of it then?


9 posted on 08/09/2021 12:10:51 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (The democrats have just replaced KKK with CRT. /Kevin McCarty 7/6/21)
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To: simpson96

“I’ve got no interest in Chicago,”

I wouldn’t go to $h!tcago to Throw up.


10 posted on 08/09/2021 12:11:04 PM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: simpson96

Who in their right mind would step foot in Chicago?


11 posted on 08/09/2021 12:11:24 PM PDT by Maudeen (https://thereishopeinJesus.com/)
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To: nobody in particular

you’d have to be a freeking idiot to want to open a casino in chicago, or an even bigger idiot to go to a casino in chicago


12 posted on 08/09/2021 12:26:27 PM PDT by SGCOS
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To: simpson96

My small town worked and worked to finally get a ‘river-front’ casino. The casino’s ownership has changed hands at least 3 times in the 9 years it has been open and except for special events, the parking lot is never full. It has brought increased money to the city, but I imagine much less than had been hoped for. There has been no development near the casino, no growth in the downtown area four or five blocks away.

I realize Chicago is completely different, but with things the way they are in that city, will people with money burning a hole in their pockets want to venture to its location, now that even the previous ‘nice’ places are subject to the occasional wilding?


13 posted on 08/09/2021 12:44:45 PM PDT by hanamizu
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To: simpson96

They can run a Russian Roulette table... only it’ll be Chicago Roulette - with a semi-auto pistol.


14 posted on 08/09/2021 1:09:32 PM PDT by cpt_dave
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To: The Free Engineer

They should let the Chicago mob run the casino. It would be like Las Vegas during the 1950’s.


15 posted on 08/09/2021 2:07:43 PM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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To: The Free Engineer

Got to give the criminal element a source of income other than the normal citizen walking down the street.
Chicago, Chicago that wonderful town
Before I visit again the sky will have to fall down!!


16 posted on 08/09/2021 4:38:51 PM PDT by Nuocmam (Loose lips sink ships.)
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