Bally’s is betting big in Chicago.
The global entertainment brand collective, alongside key political stakeholders and its construction team, topped out the $1.7 billion development along the Chicago River in the Windy City, according to a May 1 announcement.
Bally’s broke ground on the project alongside its general contractor, the Chicago Community Builders Collective. That joint venture comprises Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co., and these Chicago-area construction firms:
- Builder Brown & Momen
- Engineering services firm d’Escoto
- Engineering firm Milhouse Engineering & Construction
- Contractor Powers & Sons Construction
- Construction management firm Riteway-Huggins Construction Services
- Project management firm SQN Associates
- Builder Ujamaa Construction
The casino development, when complete, will contain a 500-room hotel tower with rooftop bar, a 3,000-seat entertainment theater and event center and 3,300 parking spaces.
Bally’s project anchors a 30-acre redevelopment of the Chicago Tribune Freedom Center site, the former headquarters and printing facility for the Chicago Tribune. The vision for the site includes a riverfront destination that aims to reconnect the River West and the Near West Side neighborhoods to the Chicago River. Bally's gained site approval in February 2025.
The casino’s construction comes at an opportune time for the sector — casino and gaming revenue has been booming, according to a 2025 report from the American Gaming Association, a trade group that represents the U.S. casino industry.
Bally’s casino is also one project among several Chicago initiatives that are generating billions for the construction industry. Alongside this development, the $5.7 billion Red Line transit extension and the $1.45 billion O’Hare Concourse D project also recently began construction or reached new milestones.
