Chicago Casino Town Hall: Rivers 78

Tonight’s town hall is the last of 3 that occurred this week. Rivers hopes to win over Hard Rock and Bally’s in hosting Chicago’s first casino.

Today’s meeting is being held at UIC Isadore and Sadie Dorin Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Road, and can also be live-streamed here https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/iframe/live.html

The stream should be live shortly.

Until then, here is a link to some information from the City of Chicago about these 3 finalists and their proposals. https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/chicago-casino/home.html

The stream on my computer was lagging but as of 6:07 the stream is live on my phone. Looks like Alderman Tunney gave some opening remarks and we are now being introduced to Rivers 78.

Guests received comment cards upon arrival, so there will be a section of this meeting where their questions will be answered.

Guests have been asked to sustain disruptions and refrain from holding up signs.

We are hearing how the arts, hospitality and tourism have been affected by the pandemic and why a casino and new entertainment district would enhance Chicago’s economy.

The city acknowledges major concerns surrounding safety, traffic and equity of such a large development.

Jennie Huang Bennett, CFO of Chicago, says developing a casino will create at least 6800 jobs.

She says the revenue from this project will prevent the city from raising taxes, specifically property taxes.

Large crowds gathered in the back of the room are being urged to seat before we proceed with hearing from the Rivers 78 team.

“If you’re not able to sit, I’ll invite you to leave.”

Curt R. Bailey, President of Related Midwest is now speaking, he thanks Mayor Lightfoot.

Related Midwest has been developing across Chicago for over 30 years. Bailey says a casino is just 2% of the development and the other 98% “is for all Chicagoans.”

Bailey says they are creating an entire neighborhood.

He also says they are creating a new red line station at 15th Street. Here is a look at the location of the proposed neighborhood. https://t.co/nrPZO3kgUu

Bailey also says they will expand the riverwalk and that affordable housing is at the core of this development.

Ann Thompson, Executive Vice President of Architecture and Design at Related Midwest takes the podium.

Thompson says the spaces between the buildings are just important as the buildings themselves.

She says 11 of the development’s 62 acres will include new parkland and open space.

She says she wants to make the riverfront more accessible to citizens. She announces the creation of an Art and Culture board which she says will include people from the neighborhood.

Thompson announces the creation of an Observation Tower, calling it the “the Eiffel Tower of Chicago”

Tim Drehkoff, CEO of Rush Street Gaming, is now speaking on why Rush Street is qualified to take on this project.

Drehkoff points to Philadelphia as an example of a city where citizens had reservations to building a casino, but says that overall it improved the the city.

Yanet Garcia, Vice President of Construction at Related Midwest, is speaking to Related’s inclusivity of minorities and small businesses in its projects.

Garcia says they will hire 4,000 people for construction jobs in the entertainment district, but create 39,000 construction jobs overall.

“Imagine the impact. Imagine what this project will do for families. Imagine what it will do for your family.”

She says 200 businesses have signed a commitment with other industry stakeholders to help level the playing field for everyone.

“This is our city and this is so much bigger than a casino.”

Nosa Ehimwenman, CEO of Bowa Construction, is telling his story of being a child of immigrants and now having the opportunity as a minority-owned business to be a part of a a mega-development like this.

Ehimwenman says this casino isn’t about celebrities flying in on their private jets, it’s about people from the south and west sides, about “people who don’t need GPS and Waze to get around.”

He is speaking to the importance of inclusion in this development and how it’s important for the kids of Chicago to see people who look like them involved in and leading projects like this.

We are moving on to questions now.

There’s some tension about seating again. It seems as though people were lining up to ask questions but that is being shut down.

We are cutting to a video. The stream does not show what is happening in the crowd, but there was some audible yelling, can not confirm if it was in protest to the development, to being told to have a seat, or in response to something else.

The video is a promotional video with different people talking about why they are excited for the 78 casino development.

Okay, now we are moving on to the Q&A section, taking questions from the comment cards that were given to guests.

We will then move on to open mic questions where people will take the stand for 90 seconds to ask their question to the panel.

Question 1: Where will your temporary casino be? How big is it?

Answer 1: The temporary casino will be the riverboat, which will be moved. The stream is glitching so unfortunately I did not get the entire response to this question.

Question 2: How will a casino affect the planned park DPI?
Bailey is speaking to a new school development but agin, the stream glitches. My apologies.

Bailey is speaking about the observation tower and how he forsees that being one of the city’s main attractions, like The Bean and Millennium Park.

There’s a list of questions asking “how safe would you feel [with a casino in your neighborhood]?” People are concerned with the potential for crime and how a casino would affect neighborhoods like Pilsen and Chinatown.

Ehimwenman says we’re focused on crime coming into the community, but there’s already crime in our city. He’s focused on jobs and the positive impact the casino will have on the city.

Thompson says that other casino proposals are planning on building casinos in already established neighborhoods, where Rivers is creating a new neighborhood, giving them more control.

We’re hearing a couple of positive comments from the comment cards now.

“The South Loop needs more entertainment.... we need more housing.” says one comment card

Bailey says “nobody focuses on affordable housing like we do.” He says the casino is the engine that allows them to build housing at this sight.

Another card asks who will be monitoring the equity claims of this casino development. Garcia says Hire360 will help monitor contracts, but that there is more opportunity for partnerships.

Ehimwenman says “Black and Brown people will be at this site because we’re at the table… I’m inclined to hire people that look like me because I see them everyday.”

Someone is yelling from the crowd although I cannot make out what they are saying through the stream. They sound upset.

A question about predatory marketing was asked. The Rivers’ representatives are saying they don’t do business like that, it doesn’t look good and it isn’t what they stand for.

Drehkoff says “our customers are high-end.”

A child from the crowd asks the 78 to become something for families, not a casino.

Bailey responds “there’s so many examples of great places being anchored by entertainment.”

Another person asks if there will be affordable commercial spaces for small businesses like hers

Bailey says, in short, yes and they would love to speak with her to ask how they can be most beneficial to small businesses in the area.

Another guest asks about bird friendly design in their development. Thompson says they’ve partnered with people to ensure bird safety because they are aware of the issue of birds flying into glass.

Another guest is calling the layout of the construction “The Great Wall Against Chinatown”

Side note, if anyone is having issues with the stream you can also watch it live from @chicagosmayor’s page https://twitter.com/chicagosmayor/status/1512204199316135938

Someone else asks “What is your track record in the Black community before you build this community?”

Bailey says the employment and energy of the jobs created at Rivers 78 will be brought down to the south side.

Another guest says he supports 78 but says Black and Brown people need a seat at the table when these decisions are being made.

Another guests asked about independent restaurants, restaurants from Chinatown, from Pilsen, from Washington Park. Not chains and big restaurant groups.

A resident of the South Loop asks about the timeline of this project and about parking.

Bailey says the temporary casino would be running in a year and a half.

Another guests asks about a 2014 Rivers labor dispute that was settled out of court. He wants to know why Related Midwest would partner with a “labor busting” company.

The guest became heated the question wasn’t answered.

This is next question. He is essentially asking why this development was not created in a Black neighborhood, where there is plenty of vacant land. https://t.co/xcTjZsxC3I

The response: https://t.co/MUvaPeFHKY

The next guest is asking about public safety, specifically the commitment to ensuring the safety of the Black community.

Garcia says that Related has a passion for hiring from their communities and promoting minority-owned businesses.

The next speaker is comparing the language used in promoting Rivers 78 to the language used in promoting developments in Pilsen, which have lead to longtime residents and businesses being pushed out of the neighborhood.

A speaker asks why, if people have publicly expressed that they do not want a casino at the 78, then why are they continuing to push the development of a casino?

Bailey says that the number of people who said they didn’t want a casino was taken from a small sample, and that he is open to discussing what about the casino is discerning to people.

Next question “What are going to be the efforts of the collateral damage from a casino?”

*efforts to protect against the collateral damage

Thompson says they’re bringing in more roadwork and access to public transportation to prevent traffic and says that crime has not gone up in other areas in cities where casinos were developed in urban areas.

The next speaker is asking about mental health, and says that building a casino in a city where access to mental health services has been cut is predatory.

The next guest asked multiple questions about jobs and equity. Garcia is talking about COCO, a program that is supposed to change job site culture to promote wellness and inclusion.

At 8:28 mics have been cut and they are no longer taking anymore questions.

8:29 the stream ends and so does my coverage of the Rivers 78 meeting.