Providence, Rhode Island-based casino and resort company Bally’s Corp. cleared a key construction hurdle for its Chicago location following the formal approval of its site plans by the city’s Department of Planning and Development, Urbanize Chicago reported.

Project specs call for a 500-room, 34-story hotel tower via single-phase construction at the 30-acre former Chicago Tribune printing site downtown, according to a news release. Per the plans, the hotel tower will be located on the southern end of the casino development nearest Ohio Street along the Chicago River.

The approval comes after Bally’s changed the original design of the location following unforeseen underground infrastructure, per the news release, along with an adjusted design for the hotel. Its backer, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based Gaming and Leisure Properties, agreed to finance the entire development in a single phase.

Bally’s and Gaming and Leisure Properties entered into a binding term sheet for a $940 million construction funding facility for the Chicago project, along with other financing transactions, to total approximately $2 billion, per the July news release. Bally’s estimated its total construction costs would be $1.7 billion in May 2023.

Building the project is the Chicago Community Builders Collective, a minority-led construction partnership and joint venture. The JV is made of Chicago-based AEC firms that include: 

• Brown & Momen.
• d’Escoto. 
• Milhouse. 
• SQN Associates.
• Ujamaa Construction.
• Riteway-Huggins Construction. 

Contractors in the JV that are headquartered outside of Chicago include Gary, Indiana-based Powers & Sons Construction, and Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co.

Plans include a 3,000-seat theater, six restaurants, cafes and a food hall, and a 2-acre public park, per the release. Additionally, the property will connect to the lower riverbank with an approximately 2,000-foot-long extension of the riverwalk.

Demolition of the former Chicago Tribune plant is nearly complete, Urbanize Chicago reported, and the project is targeting a late 2026 opening.