Four applicants for Chicago Southland casino license to make their pitch next month

Four Southland applicants in Chicago applying for a license to operate a casino will have a chance to make their pitch, as state gaming officials prepare to narrow the list to three possible sites.

The special Illinois Gaming Board meeting will be held next month, Oct. 13. During the session, the regulator will also hear presentations from three applicants vying to build a casino in Waukegan, reports Chicago Tribune. The board is expected to make a decision on licenses for both casinos by early January, according to board administrator Marcus Fruchter.

For the Southland Casino, Homewood is partnering with neighbor East Hazel Crest on a proposed site straddling the border of both communities, with Wind Creek LLC as developer, whose partners include the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

A second proposal sees Calumet City partnering with Delaware North, using part of the River Oaks shopping center at Torrence Avenue, east of Interstate 94, for a casino and related development.

Meanwhile, Lynwood and partner Ho-Chunk Nation are proposing a casino east of Illinois 394 and north of the interchange with Glenwood-Dyer Road; while a fourth proposal partners Matteson with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma for a casino at the former Lincoln Mall site at U.S. 30 and Cicero Avenue.

The meeting will give the communities to state their case of why theirs is the best site for the casino development, said Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld on Tuesday, according to the previously cited news source. “All in all it’s a good opportunity to get that done,” he added.

Delaware North believes itself a strong contender for the license. Regional general manager Osi Imomoh said it plans to have a temporary casino operating within 90 days should it earn the license.

Legislation to expand the number of casino licenses through Illinois from the current 10 was approved in May 2019, by the state’s General Assembly. In addition to these two licenses, a further four were designated for Chicago, Danville, Rockford and Williamson County. The legislation also provided for a combination horse racing track-casino, a “racino”, which has at one point been proposed for the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center.

While the decision on the south suburban license was set to be taken within 12 months of receiving the applications, on an October 2020 deadline, the board said the COVID-19 pandemic had made the applicant evaluation process difficult, resulting in delays.

The current timetable proposes a decision being made within six months of outside firm Christiansen Capital Advisors being hired to assist in the vetting. As the firm was hired on July 9, the new deadline would put the timing in early January.

Last month, the extended delays saw five area state legislators sending a letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker asking him to move the decision-making process along, citing that each day without license meant another day in which families in the area were denied “chances to win better jobs and better incomes.”