Onni Plans $1B Mega-Project Near Bally's Chicago Casino
Canadian developer wants to build riverfront towers with 2,500 apartments.
As Bally’s moves forward with its plan to build a 30-acre, $1.7B casino-hotel complex at a River North site housing the Chicago Tribune’s printing plant, a Canada-based developer is planning a riverfront mega-project down the street.
Onni Group has unveiled renderings for a $1.1B project called Halsted Landing, which aims to build four towers including 2,500 apartments, as well as retail, an amphitheater and a water taxi stop, Crain’s reported.
The project would be built in three phases, with the first phase including two residential towers encompassing a total of 688 units, of which 190 would be designated as affordable, the report said.
If the city approves Halsted Landing, this would be Onni’s second huge project in the area. North of the proposed site, Onni Group is leading a 2.7M SF development under construction known as Halsted Pointe, a five-tower mega-project that will include 2,650 housing units and a 300-key hotel, as well as retail.
The massive mixed-use complex at Halsted Pointe is replacing the Greyhound Bus facility at 901 North Halsted Street on the southern tip of Goose Island.
The Tribune’s printing plant, known as the Freedom Center, recently printed its final edition of the newspaper, which will be relocating its printing operations to a facility in Schaumburg next month, Crain’s reported.
In March, Bally’s disclosed it was seeking $800M in construction financing for its 1M SF casino complex in River North. Construction at the Freedom Center site is scheduled to begin in July.
Bally’s bought the 30-acre site for $200M in November 2022 from Nexstar Media. This was followed by a sale-leaseback on the land with Oak Street Real Estate Capital.
In May 2023, the Rhode Island-based Bally’s agreed to pay the Chicago Tribune’s parent company a series of cash payments in return for its commitment to exit the Freedom Center in 2024, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.
Prior to that deal, the Tribune had exercised an option in its lease of the printing plant that would have extended its use of the facility for another 10 years.