IGB To Announce Winners Of Waukegan, South Suburban Casino Licenses In January

Marcus Fruchter, administrator of the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB), anticipates that the winning bidders for the licenses to the Waukegan and south suburban casinos will be announced by mid-January.

During Thursday’s board meeting, Fruchter stated that if there are multiple bids for the same license in Waukegan and the south suburbs, the IGB must follow Illinois law and hire a consultant to evaluate the applicants.

On July 9, the committee hired a consultant and the IGB stated that a decision will be made within six months.

In addition to winning the bid, the IGB will also have preliminary eligibility results for ” “. Therefore, the casino approval process should ideally start in 2022.

Fruchter remarked:

We expect that the consultant hired by the game board will make a decision on the winners of the competitive choice process for Waukegan and the western suburbs within six months, as well as determine their initial suitability based on our current information.

The following candidates are listed for registration in Waukegan:

• Rivers Casino in Waukegan, also referred to as CDI-RSG Waukegan, LLC
• Full House Resorts, Inc. is based in the United States.
• Lakeside Casino, LLC, also known as North Point Casino.

The following individuals are being considered for the prestigious southern affluent license:

• Southland Live is operating as a limited liability company (LLC).
• LLC South Suburban Development
• LLC Wind Creek

An exclusive meeting has been arranged for October 13th, where applicants will be able to showcase their cases to the board.

So far, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) has found casinos in Rockford and Williamson County to be “preliminarily suitable”. However, since only one bidder has shown interest in these licenses, the process has been expedited.

The Illinois casino license process is not known for being quick. Many development groups have been applying for licenses since October 2019, with the process taking a significant amount of time.

Why people dislike the fresh game system in Illinois

In a recent development, five legislators from the southern suburbs sought to enlist the help of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to speed up the process of establishing a new casino.

They wrote in their letter to Pritzker:

For the last two years, residents in South Suburban Chicago have encountered various difficulties. Among them, the most pressing issue is the government’s inaction towards initiatives meant to boost local economies, increase incomes, and create new job opportunities.

Please urge IGB to act quickly on the casino project in the Southland, as each day of delay means families in the area, where annual household incomes can be as low as $27,000, are missing out on the chance to secure better jobs and higher incomes.

Expectations were high for a decision to be reached by October 2020, but the IGB ultimately delayed making a decision. It appears that the bureaucratic processes in Illinois are slowing down the decision-making process.

Although January 2022 is significantly after October 2020, the meeting on Thursday gave interested parties a clear timeframe.

Update on Walker & rsquo, s Bluff Casino

Earlier this year, the IGB discovered the presence of Walker & Bluff’s Casino in Williamson County. On Thursday, Walker & Bluff submitted a request to amend its application.

The construction process has not been requested to start yet, but is expected to begin in the coming days. Walker’s Bluff plans to start construction in October and anticipates the development phase to last around 18 months.

The opening date for Walker’s Bluff is tentatively scheduled for April 2023. There are no plans to open any part of the establishment before that date, but this could change depending on the design process.