Chicago Ready For Las Vegas
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is getting impatient on the city’s proposed casino development and said she hopes that the casino license winner will be decided by the end of this year.
Indeed it has been a long time coming for Chicago when the state already has ten casinos since legalising gambling back in 1991 but nothing within the largest city in Illinois.
“This is taking too long,” Lightfoot said in a recent interview. “I’m an impatient person by nature.”
In has been reported now that the state gaming board will tender proposals from April for Chicago and by the end of the year will decide on the best proposal and license the sole winner by end of 2021 with a timeline of completion and opening the doors by no later than 2025.
The city has also lowered its tax rate for prospective bidders to help increase interest, previously the tax rate was 72% it has now been lowered to 40% however that is much larger than the 6.75% that Nevada offers casino operators.
So far it is understood that three frontrunners for bidding are MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts and the Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock International.
Lightfoot also said in the interview on her preferences: “My hope is that many of them will have Las Vegas addresses,” she said. “I should say that I want to make sure that this is a completely open and transparent process. We’re not putting our thumb on the scale for anyone. We just want someone who really shares our vision about how great an opportunity this is and is going to think about this not just as building a box, but really being a part of a really exciting entertainment complex.
“I think we’ve got a tremendous amount to offer and particularly for some of the more experienced gaming interests that do have Las Vegas as their home address,” she finished by saying.
