State's 10th casino could be up and running in one year, chairman says

After roughly a decade of having a dormant casino license mired in litigation, Illinois could have its 10th casino up and running in as little as 9-12 months, said Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe Wednesday.

"Although the journey was tumultuous, the end result validated the efforts of many people, over a long period of time, to maintain the integrity of the gaming industry," said Jaffe. He was recalling how the state eventually successfully revoked the license from Emerald Casino after state regulators determined some of its proposed investors were tied to the mob. Emerald was supposed to open a facility in Rosemont, but never got that far before the gaming board intervened.

Now with the license back in the hands of the state, Jaffe and the board met in public Thursday to introduce the investment banker in charge of soliciting bids for that license and to outline how the process will work.

Applications for the 10th license will go out Friday and will be due back at the end of September or early October. Once received, casino board officials will open the bids and release to the public broad outlines proposed in those applications, including towns and dollar amounts bid. The actual detailed, specific applications are privileged by statute and will not be released, said IGB attorney Mike Fries.

From those applications, three finalists will be chosen and negotiated with to improve bid prices and other benefits to the state, board officials said.

Rosemont is free to try again, they said.

"There's nothing in the statute that prohibits any municipality" from applying, said Fries.

Rosemont leaders have said in the past they intend to try for a new casino. The city of Des Plaines indicated Wednesday that they, too, plan to be in the running.

"We're still a player," said Des Plaines City Manager Jason Bajor. "We're very much interested in having a casino."

Des Plaines continues to partner with Chicago real estate developer Neil Bluhm in its bid for the casino.

Even a Chicago-owned casino is not necessarily out of the realm of possibility, said Jaffe.

"Nothing is a non-starter," said Jaffe. The only statutory restriction is that the casino cannot be located on the Lake Michigan lakefront, which would seem to eliminate Navy Pier and McCormick Place as possible locations.

Once the winner is picked, that company and application will be vetted by gaming board investigators. If it is found not suitable by the gaming board, the board could then move down the line and accept the runner-up's proposal.

Credit Suisse is running the application process for the gaming board and will be paid 1 percent of any purchase price, with a maximum payout of $4 million. Should the bid process fall apart, as it has in the past, the bank will be paid a flat fee of $100,000. Credit Suisse officials responsible for the shopping of the license are Steven Koch, co-chairman of mergers and acquisitions; David C. Berman, managing director of investment banking; Charles Protell, director of investment banking and David Luwisch, director of the mergers and acquisitions group.

Credit Suisse was chosen for the job after troubled investment banker Bear Stearns dropped out of the running.