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Illinois casino in Crestwood...This shall be interesting if it actually happens
12.12.02 @ 11:49
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Interesting.........(see previous entry for more stuff related to me).......

Crestwood site catches Trump's eye

Sources: Southland group close to deal with billionaire in bid for last casino

Thursday, December 12, 2002

By Brent Watters and Kristen McQueary

Staff writers - Daily Southtown

Billionaire Donald Trump is looking to dock a casino in the Southland.

Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts is on the verge of signing a contract with the village of Crestwood as part of an effort by eight south suburbs to bring the state's only available casino license to the Southland, according to several sources.

Crestwood, Blue Island, Alsip, Calumet Park, Harvey, Posen, Riverdale and Robbins are the towns in the south suburban consortium. The towns would serve jointly as the casino's "host" community, sharing equally in responsibility and gambling revenue regardless of which of the towns the casino is located in.

In recent weeks, some area officials have said Crestwood has emerged as the favored site.

Harry "Bus" Yourell, a commissioner with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, said in November a site of more than 40 acres the MWRD owns along Calumet Sag Road, between Cicero and Kostner avenues in Crestwood, was the chosen site the consortium would propose for the casino.

In recent years, Crestwood Mayor Chester Stranczek has attempted to get the MWRD board to lease the site for commercial development that would include a hotel, car dealership, restaurant and department stores.

Stranczek and company officials at Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Blue Island Mayor Donald Peloquin, who is leading the consortium, would neither confirm nor deny Trump's interest in Crestwood.

Peloquin said that "if" Trump is interested in bringing a casino to the Southland, it indicates the Southland is a viable player for the last license.

When a site and developer are chosen, Peloquin said, the towns would be ready to put together an attractive package for the Illinois Gaming Board.

"We will be ready when the time comes," Peloquin said.

Sources said if the deal with Trump becomes a reality, the consortium could have a proposal ready for the gaming board within a few weeks.

But even then, state regulators who will make the final decision about the casino location, are nowhere near accepting applications.

The gaming board still is trying to wrest control of the license from Emerald Casino investors, who want to build a casino in Rosemont. An agreement reached between the gaming board and Emerald several months ago to transfer the license to a yet-to-be-determined group remains locked in a court battle.

The gaming board blocked Emerald's key investors from building in Rosemont last year based on allegations they lied during background checks.

Though several communities in the Chicago area have expressed interest in vying for the license and submitting an application to the gaming board, the board has "diplomatically" been turning them away, spokesman Gene O'Shea said.

"It's premature right now," he said.

Trump owns three casino resorts in Atlantic City, N.J., and one in Gary. The Indiana resort is the smallest of the four properties, though it has the same number of slot machines and table games as two Trump resorts in Atlantic City. Indiana allows for 2,500 slot machines and 78 table games; Illinois allows for 1,200 slots and table games combined.

Illinois also taxes its most profitable casinos higher than any state in the country.

John Mulkey, a gaming analyst at Bear Stearns & Co. in New York City, said he wasn't familiar with Crestwood. But like any developer, Trump would be looking for a high-density location like Crestwood that could draw from Chicago, the suburbs and Indiana.

"Even with Illinois' tax structure, you're still talking above-average returns," Mulkey said.

Trump made news in Chicago last year by announcing plans to build a skyscraper downtown. The 86-story office and luxury condominium building, designed as Chicago's fourth-tallest skyscraper, will be built where the Chicago Sun-Times building sits. Trump Tower is a joint partnership with Trump and Hollinger International, the company that owns the Daily Southtown and the Sun-Times.

While the city has already approved zoning for construction of the tower, Trump is still working to secure financing and lease agreements.

Among the other towns with aspirations of landing the last casino license are Des Plaines and Waukegan in the north suburbs and at least four other towns in the Southland.

Summit Mayor Joseph Strzelczyk said that given the depressed economic condition of his town, its close proximity to Midway Airport and navigable waters Summit is the best site for a casino.

Strzelczyk said he has been in conversations with at least two companies interested in Summit being a possible site for a riverboat casino. According to a source close to Strzelczyk, one of those companies is Isle of Capri, based in Tunica, Miss.

Harvey officials also said their town could be the site of a casino.

"Harvey is more centralized and is easier to get to that any other town," said Bob Storman, spokesman for the city.

Earlier this year a Las Vegas-based casino operator came to Harvey to scope out the city as a potential site for a casino, Storman said. That meeting went so well that Harvey Mayor Nick Graves went to Las Vegas for a weekend trip shortly afterward to talk further with the casino operator about bringing a casino to Harvey.

"Those talks are still going on," Storman said.

Country Club Hills recently hired a Chicago attorney who will look into acquiring the last license or transferring another state license to the city. Calumet City has taken similar steps.

Many Southland leaders agree that if a casino lands in the Southland, the whole region would benefit regardless of where it would be located.

"It is the kind of economic development tool that the south suburbs needs," Posen Mayor Kevin Whitney said.

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