DES PLAINES, IL-As Gov. Pat Quinn examines a large plan that would allow five new casinos in the state, a local billionaire’s gaming facility is about to open here. Neil Bluhm, a partner in locally-based Walton Street Capital and chairman of Midwest Gaming and Entertainment LLC, is opening the $435 million Rivers Casino here on July 18.
The venture for the 147,000-square-foot casino here is a partnership of Bluhm and Clairvest Group Inc. The group has a $120 million senior secured facility consisting of $110 million delayed draw term loan facility and a $10 million revolving credit facility, for which Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Macquarie Capital were the joint lead arrangers.
The building is on 20 acres at the northwest corner of Des Plaines River Road and Devon Avenue, just a few miles from the Chicago city border and O’Hare International Airport. It’s the first new casino built in the Chicagoland area since the mid-1990s, and includes seven restaurants.
Quinn is currently holding up a plan that the state legislature approved to allow the development of the first casino within Chicago city limits, as well as the license and construction of four other casinos in the suburbs and throughout the state. Before Rivers, the closest casinos are those on the northwest Indiana border, only a few miles from Chicago’s South Side.
The Illinois governor has said he supports a casino within Chicago, but he said he thinks the legislature’s plan, which includes slot machines at the city’s airports, includes too many gaming options. Midwest officials have said Rivers will pay more than $150 million in gaming taxes annually to the local community and the state.
Rivers features 2,300 self-parking spaces as well as valet. Rivers also plans to offer shuttle service from O'Hare, Midway, McCormick Place and select hotels throughout downtown Chicago and surrounding areas. Rivers will also offer luggage check to guests. "We are excited to open the doors to the Rivers Casino. It is a showplace attraction for the entire region," said Bluhm. We have considered every detail with our customers in mind."
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