Bally’s is building Chicago’s first permanent casino on 30 acres of the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center site, the newspaper’s old headquarters and printing plant on the Chicago River. The $1.7 billion resort topped out on April 30, 2026. Opening has slipped from late 2026 into sometime in 2027, and work slowed during the summer as the parent company worked through liquidity problems.
Project Scope
HKS designed the resort. The program includes a 500-room hotel tower, a 3,000-seat theater, six restaurants plus cafes and a food hall, the gaming floor itself, and a two-acre public park. Chicago Community Builders Collective holds the general contract, a joint venture led by Providence-based Gilbane Building Co. with Chicago-area construction firms.
With the structure topped out, the remaining work is overwhelmingly interior: hotel fit-out, theater and food and beverage build-out, MEP trim, furniture and equipment, and specialty gaming systems.
Why It Matters
This is the single largest private commercial project underway in Chicago, and the city’s gaming revenue projections assume it opens and operates. Every quarter of delay recalculates a municipal budget line.
The financial picture around the owner matters to everyone with a contract here. Bally’s issued a going-concern warning in August 2026 and said it was exploring asset sales, an equity sale and debt financings. Its chief financial officer resigned weeks later. The interior phase is exactly when subcontractor and supplier exposure peaks, which makes lien deadlines, retainage flow and payment bond notice requirements worth checking rather than assuming.
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Project Team & Details
| Developer | Bally's Corporation |
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| Owner / Client | Bally's Corporation |
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| Architect | HKS |
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| General Contractor | Chicago Community Builders Collective (Gilbane Building Co. joint venture) |
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| Status | Topped Out |
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| Funding Source | Private |
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