Posted on: November 8, 2024, 09:52h.
Last updated on: November 8, 2024, 10:04h.
Wind Creek Chicago Southland in East Hazel Crest, Ill, plans to open next week, but the owners of the newly finished casino resort say they’re still awaiting final approval from the state.
Wind Creek Chicago Southland comes from Wind Creek Hospitality, the gaming subsidiary of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PBCI) based in Alabama. Officials with the Chicago suburb casino say they hope to unlock the doors on Monday, November 11.
Roger Kuehn, executive vice president and general manager of what will become Wind Creek’s second commercial casino resort property in the United States, says the casino can’t open until the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) gives its final approval.
We have to prove that we’re competent casino operators and, if we do, I think we’ll get the green light to open on a date that we want,” Kuehn told the Chicago Tribune. “And my preferred date is 11/11 at 11 a.m.”
Wind Creek Chicago Southland comes with a 70K-square-foot casino floor with 1,400 slot machines, 56 live dealer table games, a poker room, and a sportsbook. The 16-story hotel has 252 guestrooms and suites, 12,000 square feet of event space, a 75K-square-foot entertainment hall, and several restaurants and bars.
Wind Creek Chicago will open a full-service spa, an indoor pool, and a fitness center in early 2025.
Tribe Enters Commercial Industry
After operating Class I and II casinos, including electronic bingo-based gaming machines but not slots or house-banked table games in its native Alabama because the state has refused to enter into a Class III gaming compact with the tribe, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PBCI) focused its energies outside the state with a push into the commercial gaming market. In 2018, the tribe wagered its largest bet ever when it acquired Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania for $1.3 billion.
Though the tribe operates three boutique casino resorts in Aruba and Curacao, its investment in Eastern Pennsylvania and the decision to acquire one of the state’s most successful casino properties put the Poarch Creek Indians on the national gaming industry map. Though the pandemic delayed a return, the tribe’s bet on Bethlehem is beginning to be a winning one. It’s also allowed PBCI to consider new commercial investments.
After Illinois lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker (D) expanded gaming in 2020, Wind Creek Gaming bid for the development opportunity in Chicago Southland.
The tribe’s bid was picked by the IGB in 2021 over several other proposals, including from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. A bid from Delaware North was also defeated.
Budget Busted
Kuehn says construction costs swelled considerably higher than what Wind Creek initially budgeted.
We’re way over budget,” Kuehn said, adding that the original $529 million budget ballooned to about $575 million because of high materials and labor costs.
He’s happy with the finished project, however, calling the destination “more than a casino — we are an experience.”
Wind Creek Chicago has hired 900 people to operate the casino and hotel. Kuehn expects the workforce to increase to about 1,200 team members once the remaining components are finished and opened.
