Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians has taken a step toward opening a casino in the Chicago area.
Chicago has been moving through a high-stakes process to license its first downtown casino resort, a project expected to top $1 billion. Meanwhile, the Poarch Creeks’ tribal gaming business, Wind Creek Hospitality, has been vying for a license for a smaller, but still substantial, hotel-casino property in the city’s southern suburbs. The latest development is that the Illinois Gaming Board has favored the proposed Wind Creek Illinois development over the other finalist for that south suburban license.
The decision that Wind Creek Hospitality is “preliminarily suitable” doesn’t mean it has a gaming license yet, but it sets the stage for further evaluation of the proposal, the Chicago Tribune reported. Wind Creek Illinois will be built in the Homewood and East Hazel Crest area, in a region known as the Southland.
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Wind Creek Hospitality describes its vision as a 70,000-square-foot casino with 1,300 slot machines, 56 table games, entertainment, dining and a 252-room luxury hotel, and says it will bring 800 jobs to the area. The estimated cost of the project is $300 million, according to the Tribune.
This would be the first major expansion of Wind Creek Hospitality’s gaming properties since 2019, when the company won approval to purchase the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Penn. It also owns Wind Creek casinos in Atmore, Wetumpka and Montgomery plus other casino properties on the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Curacao. It also has a partnership with the Washoe tribe to operate a Nevada casino.
“I am extremely proud that the Illinois Gaming Board recognizes the value of our Alabama-based Wind Creek Hospitality brand,” said Stephanie A. Bryan, Poarch Band chairwoman and CEO. “We have seen the positive impact that our gaming businesses have had in our home state, as well as in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Aruba and Curacao in the Caribbean. We know that gaming done the right way offers opportunities for economic development and job creation that can improve the quality of life in the communities where we make long-term investments. We are excited and honored to bring our business to Illinois and be a part of the greater Chicago community.”
Wind Creek says it aims to open the property in 2023.
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