An $87 million expansion at Rivers Casino Des Plaines near Chicago would increase the size of the casino to 2,000 gaming positions – the first in Illinois to achieve the state’s maximum number.
In a statement Wednesday, Rush Street Gaming and Churchill Downs, which jointly operate the property, said the expansion plans were filed with the City of Des Plaines and Illinois Gaming Board. The two-story expansion would cover 78,000 square feet.
Rivers Casino Des Plaines is located near O’Hare Airport and some 20 miles from downtown Chicago.
Rush Street and Churchill Downs said the expansion would be constructed between the existing casino building and a recently enlarged parking garage on the north side of the property.
The first floor would include a new restaurant and an expanded gaming floor for slot machines and table games. The second floor will feature a 24-table poker room; a 10,000 square-foot ballroom for private events and live entertainment, and a slot machine gaming area.
“With this proposed expansion, we will be able to offer our guests more of the entertainment and dining options they enjoy, additional gaming opportunities, and a long-desired poker room,” Rush Street CEO and co-founder Greg Carlin said in a statement.
Illinois is home to 10 casinos and a large video gaming market with more than 37,000 games at some 7,100 locations around the state. Rivers Casino Des Plaines was the first casino in Illinois to have a land-based gaming floor and, through BetRivers, opened the state’s first retail sportsbook and was the first to offer mobile sports betting.
The expansion initially includes 260 table game seats, an increase of 70%, and will add 439 slot machines, a 48% increase. Under the current plan, the property will have 26 additional gaming positions to allocate in the future.
“When complete, we will be the first casino in Illinois to offer our guests 2,000 gaming positions,” said Rivers Des Plaines General Manager Corey Wise.
Rivers will pay Illinois $24 million in gaming position licensing fees in June.
In December, it was learned that Rush Street was one of four major casino operators that responded to a request by the city of Chicago for information on ideas surrounding a planned downtown casino-resort development for the nation’s third-largest metropolitan area. Rush Street representatives declined to comment at the time.
The Chicago casino was part of the 2019 legislative package that saw Illinois lawmakers approve the nation’s largest gaming industry expansion to an existing market in more than a decade. Chicago, with more than 9.5 million residents, represents one of the largest untapped gaming opportunities in the country.
The plan for Rivers Des Plaines is subject to regulatory approval from the Illinois Gaming Board. The City of Des Plaines must also approve the addition. Representatives from the casino will begin the formal zoning process in late February. If approved, construction can begin this spring and be completed by spring 2022.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
