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The city passed on separate proposals by Bally’s and Rivers involving the McCormick Place campus after the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns the convention center complex, said it was not interested in transforming any of its facilities into a casino.

In March, Lightfoot narrowed down five proposals to three finalists: Bally’s at the Chicago Tribune Publishing Center, Rivers at The 78 in the South Loop and Hard Rock at the proposed One Central development on the Near South Side. “We’re really excited about the economic prospects for us, Bally’s Corporation,” Kim said. Kim, who noted he was in high school when Chicago took its first unsuccessful run at landing a casino in 1992, soon after Illinois legalized riverboat gambling in the state, paid homage to the significance of the city’s 30-year quest, while relishing the opportunity to grow his gambling company. Now we need to go and make our case before the City Council.” And understand that this is really just the first step. “We understand all of the promises that this casino allows the city of Chicago to keep and the state of Illinois, and we accept and bear those responsibilities,” Kim said.

He welcomed the news, but acknowledged the challenges ahead. Soo Kim, the 47-year-old chairman of Bally’s and founding partner of New York hedge fund Standard General, the casino company’s largest shareholders, was on hand for the announcement Thursday. An artist's rendering shows the proposed $1.74 billion Bally’s Chicago casino, hotel and entertainment complex at the site of the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center, located on the corner of Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street.

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