Midwest Gaming gets Illinois casino license
By DEANNA BELLANDI - The Associated Press
CHICAGO – The Illinois Gaming Board voted Monday to award the state's unused casino license to a company that wants to build a gambling boat in suburban Des Plaines, rejecting a higher upfront bid from one that wanted to put a casino in the "tainted" village of Rosemont.
The board voted, 3-1, at a meeting in Chicago to award the license that has languished for years in legal limbo to Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, a group led by billionaire Chicago developer Neil Bluhm. Bluhm has had a hand in five casino projects in Canada, Pennsylvania and Mississippi.
"It will be a fantastic facility," Bluhm said of the planned 50,000-square-foot Des Plaines casino with future hotel development.
Bluhm said he expected construction of the casino and parking garage to start after the gaming board does it final due diligence and vetting of his group, a process that could take six months to a year. Construction would start after that and last about 15 months.
The board voted for Midwest Gaming over two other finalists, Trilliant Gaming for Rosemont and Waukegan Gaming.
Trilliant's bid was the highest with an upfront licensing fee of $435 million, followed by Waukegan Gaming at $225 million and Midwest Gaming at $125 million. Midwest Gaming's bid also included an additional $300 million to be paid at about $10 million a year over 30 years.
But Trilliant's plan to locate in Rosemont was a stumbling block that Gaming Board members couldn't sidestep. A Chicago suburb near O'Hare International Airport, Rosemont has spent years trying to lure a casino amid allegations of possible mob ties.
"Rosemont is tainted by reputation," Gaming Board member Charles Gardner said.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan, in 2004, questioned whether the suburb and its then mayor, Donald Stephens, had ties to organized crime, something the late mayor denied.
Emerald Casino Inc. and then Isle of Capri Casino Inc. wanted to open a casino in Rosemont but legal and administrative disputes kept it from ever being built and the state gaming board rebid the license, resulting in Monday's vote.
Rosemont brushed off the loss of the casino it has sorely wanted.
"Rosemont didn't win so we're going to do other things," said village spokesman Gary Mack.
Gaming Board chairman Aaron Jaffe had problems with Waukegan Gaming's bid. He said some people affiliated with the bid "have questionable associations and reputations," but he did not elaborate Monday.
An analysis by gaming board staff also cited "questionable associations and business dealings" that gave them "considerable pause" but didn't elaborate.
In November, Waukegan Gaming managing partner Ed Duffy told the Gaming Board that Springfield powerbroker William Cellini had sold his ownership interest in a predecessor company that wanted to open a casino in the northern suburb. Duffy couldn't say Monday if that was the connection gaming board members were concerned about. Cellini sold his interest about 18 months ago, he said.
Cellini has been charged with plotting to squeeze a firm seeking business with the state for a $1.5 million campaign contribution to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
In its written analysis, the staff also noted that "Waukegan Gaming sources have made recent contributions to the Mayor of Waukegan." If Waukegan Gaming had won the license, board staff said that circumstance would have to be investigated further.
Gardner also rapped Waukegan for its revenue projections that he said called the "credibility" of its proposal into question.
Waukegan did get the vote of board member Joe Moore Jr., who said it was the most economically depressed area bidding for the license and the least likely to cannibalize other Illinois casinos while drawing new visitors from Wisconsin.
Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde blasted the board's decision to overlook his community for the license that the northern Illinois city was counting on to help speed up redevelopment. His city will press on, he said.
"I'm not going to quit just because ... some people made a tremendous mistake," Hyde said.
One Gaming Board member, the Rev. Eugene Winkler, declined to vote for any of the three finalists.
"They, each in their own way, are unacceptable," Winkler said.
