StormX
Banned
A Chicago casino anchoring a redevelopment that includes the former Michael Reese Hospital site would be more economically viable for the city than a Barack Obama presidential library or a cluster of convention hotels, according to a study Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration released Tuesday.
A hired team led by the Chicago-based architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was charged with creating a framework to redevelop the 48-acre Near South Side site, but their recommendations extended far beyond that parcel.
The group suggests that the city acquire five adjacent sites totaling more than 21 acres, including land currently home to a McDonald’s, self-storage facility and health center. It also calls on the city to buy the 28-acre Marshalling Yard — McCormick Place’s parking and staging area for trucks.
The wider strategy would allow for the Reese site to be incorporated into redevelopment stretching north to McCormick Place, where the experts envision a “north district” that would include a “large anchor” such as the casino, presidential library or collection of 2,500 convention hotel rooms.
Under all three scenarios, the city would spent more than $200 million to develop roads, sewers and other infrastructure. But the study found that by putting a casino there, the city would receive at least triple the proceeds for the land it acquired compared to the other two options.
As a result, the study found that a casino development would generate $208 million in net proceeds for the city while an Obama library would cost the city $142 million and a hotel complex would cost $199 million. And that doesn’t even include what’s expected to be a large amount of gambling revenue after the casino opens.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...obama-library-hotels-20131119,0,2352543.story
A hired team led by the Chicago-based architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was charged with creating a framework to redevelop the 48-acre Near South Side site, but their recommendations extended far beyond that parcel.
The group suggests that the city acquire five adjacent sites totaling more than 21 acres, including land currently home to a McDonald’s, self-storage facility and health center. It also calls on the city to buy the 28-acre Marshalling Yard — McCormick Place’s parking and staging area for trucks.
The wider strategy would allow for the Reese site to be incorporated into redevelopment stretching north to McCormick Place, where the experts envision a “north district” that would include a “large anchor” such as the casino, presidential library or collection of 2,500 convention hotel rooms.
Under all three scenarios, the city would spent more than $200 million to develop roads, sewers and other infrastructure. But the study found that by putting a casino there, the city would receive at least triple the proceeds for the land it acquired compared to the other two options.
As a result, the study found that a casino development would generate $208 million in net proceeds for the city while an Obama library would cost the city $142 million and a hotel complex would cost $199 million. And that doesn’t even include what’s expected to be a large amount of gambling revenue after the casino opens.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...obama-library-hotels-20131119,0,2352543.story
