Bally's Pulls $22.6M Permit for Chicago Casino Riverwalk

The City of Chicago issued a $22.6 million permit on Oct. 16 to Bally’s Chicago Operating Company LLC for landscaping, a park, and a riverwalk tied to the casino operator’s permanent casino, hotel and event center at 705 W. Chicago Ave. Gilbane Building Company is the general contractor listed on the permit, which covers outdoor amenity work along the North Branch of the Chicago River adjacent to the main building.

The permit is one piece of a complex Bally’s has described as including roughly 3,300 slot machines, 173 table games, a 500-room hotel and a 3,000-seat theater on the River West site. CBS News Chicago has reported Bally’s asked the city and state for up to another year to finish the permanent building, after the company’s temporary casino at Medinah Temple was approved to operate only through a fixed deadline under its license.

Why it matters

A landscaping and riverwalk permit is not itself a sign of the building’s substantial completion, but it shows site work continuing on the public-facing portions of the project at a moment when the broader timeline has already slipped from its original target. For contractors and suppliers tracking one of Chicago’s largest active construction sites, a new permit at this stage signals the project remains in active build-out rather than paused, regardless of the separate, unresolved question of how much longer the company’s temporary casino license will run.

The numbers

Permit 101078267 lists a reported construction cost of $22.6 million for the landscaping, park and riverwalk scope, issued Oct. 16, 2026. The permit’s listed parcels sit along West Chicago Avenue in the city’s 27th Ward. Bally’s has said the full casino, hotel and entertainment complex represents an investment of roughly $1.7 billion, based on the company’s own public project descriptions.

What’s next

The next verifiable markers on this project are the permits that follow for the casino and hotel towers themselves, and any Illinois Gaming Board filing confirming how long Bally’s temporary casino at Medinah Temple is authorized to keep operating. This desk will track new permits and any confirmed opening date as they are recorded. For more on Chicago development, see Chicago.