The consultant didn’t like any of 5 proposed Chicago casino sites. Here’s what we know about them.

E. Jason Wambsgans / baiduhai

An aerial view taken April 1, 2017, shows the former U.S. Steel parcel, known as South Works. The 440-acre site is the only privately owned site among the five included in the economic feasibility study.

E. Jason Wambsgans / baiduhai

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By Blair Kamin, Mary Wisniewski | For the baiduhai, Meghan Kelly and Ryan Ori

PUBLISHED: August 13, 2019 at 11:19 AM CDT | UPDATED: August 13, 2019 at 3:20 PM CDT

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Which of five casino sites floated by Mayor Lori Lightfoot offers the best chance to reap a promised economic windfall?

A state-hired consultant says the proposed tax structure for a Chicago casino is “very onerous” and could fail to attract an investor.

All five sites are on the South and West sides. The absence of any downtown or North Side locations reflects Lightfoot’s campaign pledge to direct economic developments to economically struggling areas of the city.

To provide a deeper understanding of the sites, Tribune researchers and reporters assembled data that focuses on characteristics like transportation (average daily traffic counts on nearby expressways, for example) and neighborhood characteristics such as average household income and crime levels. We also assessed whether each site has the support of its local alderman and gauged the overall size of the gambling market in northern Illinois and northern Indiana.

290

Roosevelt

and Kostner

Michael

Reese

Pershing

and State

CHICAGO

U.S. Steel

Harborside

Miles

290

CHICAGO

Roosevelt

and Kostner

Michael

Reese

Pershing

and State

U.S. Steel

Harborside

Miles

290

Roosevelt

and Kostner

CHICAGO

Michael

Reese

Pershing

and State

U.S. Steel

Harborside

Miles

290

Roosevelt

and Kostner

CHICAGO

Michael

Reese

Pershing

and State

U.S. Steel

Harborside

Miles

Sources: City of Chicago, Tribune reporting

Among the highlights of the analysis:

The proposed site at Pershing Road and State Street near Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the White Sox, gets the most car traffic, a potential advantage if city officials and a casino owner opt to build a drive-in, drive-out facility that operates like a shopping mall. But the local alderman has issued a statement against putting the project in her ward.
The area around another site, the former Michael Reese Hospital, has the lowest crime rate of the five and sits closest to the McCormick Place convention center, widely considered a good spot from which to draw gamblers. Here, too, the local alderman has said, in effect, “no dice,” calling the possibility of a casino in the historic African American neighborhood of Bronzeville “appalling and offensive.”
The area around the Harborside site on the Far South Side has the lowest population density of the five contenders and is the closet to northwest Indiana’s casinos, including those just over the border in Hammond. In this case, the local alderman wants the project, saying it would generate jobs and economic development.
Annual casino revenues in the Chicago area already stand at nearly $2 billion, making this the nation’s third-largest gambling market after Las Vegas and Atlantic City, according to the American Gaming Association.

Don’t place your hopes (or bets) just yet on one of the five sites.

City officials have stressed that the casino won’t necessarily wind up at one of the five spots, which they characterized as test sites when Lightfoot announced them in July. The mayor has said that a downtown site still could emerge as the casino’s home. In addition, the promised economic windfall may or may not materialize, given intense competition for gambling dollars that only promises to stiffen in the coming years.

Data methodology

To analyze the areas surrounding the proposed casino sites, the Tribune drew a circle surrounding each site with a 1-mile radius. For demographic and crime analysis, data was analyzed from census tracts that intersect or are within a 1-mile radius of the site within the City of Chicago. When Census data is used, the Tribune referenced the most recent 2017 ACS 5 year estimates.

The Contenders: History and Outlook

Harborside

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111TH

Lake

Calumet

115TH

Miles

1/4

A municipal dump on the property closed in the 1990s. Most of the sprawling site already has found a second life providing recreation as home to the Harborside International Golf Center. The golf facility, which opened in 1995, includes a pair of 18-hole courses. The remaining, undeveloped 63 acres owned by the Illinois International Port District is just south of the links. It sits east of the Far South Side’s Pullman neighborhood, once home to the Pullman railroad car manufacturing empire. Ald. Susan Sadlowski Garza, 10th, said she likes the idea of locating the casino near the golf course to create a “recreation destination.”

Michael Reese

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LAKE SHORE DRIVE

KING DRIVE

Miles

1/8

31ST

A hospital on the 49-acre site closed a decade ago, and the parcel was envisioned as the Olympic Village in Chicago’s failed bid for the 2016 Summer Games. The Bronzeville land is still owned by the city, which has been working to finalize a deal to sell it to a group of developers including Farpoint Development, and Draper and Kramer. The venture plans a massive mixed-use development, which also could include neighboring land, called the Burnham Lakefront. Ald. Sophia King, 4th, said she opposes building a casino at the site.

Pershing and State

A view from the west of the Robert Taylor Homes near Comiskey Park, now Guaranteed Rate Field, on Oct. 3, 2000. (Stephanie Sinclair/baiduhai)

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STATE

37TH

PERSHING

Miles

1/8

The 19-acre property, four blocks south of Guaranteed Rate Field and across the Dan Ryan Expressway from the stadium, once was part of a stretch of public housing buildings. The former Stateway Gardens and Robert Taylor Homes land is still owned by the Chicago Housing Authority. There is a plan in the works to develop a Pete’s Fresh Market grocery store on part of the site, said Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, who opposes building a casino on the site.

Roosevelt and Kostner

The intersection of Roosevelt Road and Kostner Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood in 2015. The 23-acre site once was home to a Copenhagen plant. (E. Jason Wambsgans / baiduhai)

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290

Miles

1/8

5TH

KOSTNER

KILDARE

ROOSEVELT

These 23 acres, the lone West Side site among the five submitted by the city, has a gritty history. It was once the location of a Copenhagen snuff plant. The Lawndale property later became the location of an illegal dump involved in the Silver Shovel scandal that led to indictments against six aldermen and other city officials in the 1990s. In recent years, Ald. Michael Scott, 24th, has backed plans to build distribution and light manufacturing warehouses on the city-owned property. Scott said he’s not sure a casino would be viable in his community, unless it comes with restaurants and other investments that benefit the ward’s small business owners.

U.S. Steel

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SOUTH LAKE SHORE

83RD

87TH

Miles

1/4

The massive steel plant closed in 1992, and attempts to redevelop the 440-acre site have flopped. Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel, which spent 12 years trying to revitalize the property in a joint venture with Chicago developer McCaffery Interests, still owns the land. Irish developer Emerald Living proposed building as many as 20,000 homes on the site before backing off those plans last year because of concerns about soil contamination. Now a group including Chicago rapper Common and several developers are exploring whether to create a movie production campus, live entertainment venue, sports facilities, hotels, homes and shops on the site. The group is talking with potential investors but does not have a contract to buy the site. Ald. Garza said she does not like the former U.S. Steel land as a possible location.