New proposal surfaces for Des Plaines casino
Des Plaines could have a new casino rival from within its city limits in the race for the state's last license.
With the Tuesday, Oct. 14, casino application deadline fast approaching, the owner of a sprawling 50-acre office complex off the Tri-State Tollway has enlisted the help of a former Des Plaines alderman in a new quest. The city has a six-year-old agreement with a Chicago billionaire to bring a casino to town.
There's no developer yet signed on to lure a casino to the O'Hare Lake Office Park, 2200-2400 E. Devon Ave. Robert Kozonis, who has owned the complex for five years, is fielding interest and expects to land one within a week.
The sky's the limit - literally - in terms of the scope of the potential casino project on the large parcel, Kozonis said Thursday. Hotels, retail and restaurants would easily fit on the property.
"You can go 14 stories high if you want," Kozonis said.
Tom Becker, a former Des Plaines alderman who had to leave office last year due to term limits, is representing Kozonis.
"He'll finalize who the owner or operator will be within seven or 10 days," Becker said. "After that, they'll put their stuff before the city."
A casino bidder needs to get the official nod of its host community under the Illinois Riverboat Gambling Act, gaming board spokesman Gene O'Shea said.
While there's been no interest expressed from city officials, Becker touts the new site as a more lucrative location for a riverboat casino than the former Xerox building, 3000 S. River Road, site since it's six times the size. Becker also notes that the site already has a 14-acre lake for a floating casino while the Xerox site would involve digging a moat.
Neil G. Bluhm, president of JMB Realty Corp. and Walton Street Capital, in 2002 won the support of Des Plaines in a bidding process for the gaming license.
In 2004, the gaming board awarded the 10th license to casino plans in Rosemont, but Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan blocked the deal amid concerns about reputed links to organized crime in the suburb. And other legal issues locked the license up in court proceedings, leaving it unused for a decade. Now, the gaming board is reopening the bidding process and a number of towns are expected to bid, including Waukegan.
Bluhm might have hit a stumbling block with his original Des Plaines plan, but he has been successful with other casino ventures. Bluhm last month won the OK to take over a troubled Pittsburgh casino, making it his second casino project in Pennsylvania. Bluhm couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.
"We still have a partnership with (Bluhm's) Midwest Gaming," Des Plaines City Attorney David Wiltse said Thursday.
Des Plaines Mayor Tony Arredia seems skeptical of a new casino plan.
"I don't know if that guy can come in that late in the ballgame," Arredia said.
Rosemont acting Mayor Bradley Stephens, whose town has long sought a casino and will have a developer bidding for the 10th license, said the village will take a more hands-off approach to this bidding process. Rosemont's lawyers are working with potential developers, and the village would sell the land off Balmoral Avenue formerly eyed for a casino rather than form a redevelopment agreement.
"Rosemont wants to be the address," Stephens said.