Aurora approves Hollywood Casino move from downtown to site near Interstate 88

The Aurora City Council during a sometimes heated meeting Tuesday night approved a redevelopment agreement that will allow Hollywood Casino to move from its downtown location of 30 years to a spot just north of the Farnsworth Avenue interchange with Interstate 88.

The City Council voted 12-0 to support the redevelopment agreement, with the vote coming after some people objected to the proposal during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Penn Entertainment, the casino’s parent company, will build a new, $360 million casino resort at the site that will include 950 gaming positions, a Barstool Sportsbook, a 200-room hotel, six restaurants, meeting rooms, an outside event area and a 10,000-square-foot event center.

“This development is going to change the face of Aurora for years to come,” said Mayor Richard Irvin, moments before the council unanimously voted to support the redevelopment agreement.

Shortly after the vote, Irvin joined Rafael Verde, senior vice president of operations for Penn Entertainment, at a table below the City Council dais to sign the redevelopment agreement.

After the signing, Verde told the audience in the City Council chambers “we are committed to build something special here in the city of Aurora.”

For its part, the city will transfer three parcels of land it owns along Farnsworth Avenue just north of I-88 to the casino. The city purchased those parcels that once contained two hotels and a car dealership, which the city tore down.

The city also would allow Penn Entertainment to exercise two options it has to buy the land on which Gaslight Manor and the C-Club sit on. The city would pass a general obligation bond of $58 million to put into the overall budget for the project, to be paid by a 23-year tax increment financing district the city would put on the casino project.

Penn Entertainment also agreed to demolish the existing casino building downtown and transfer the pad it was built on to the city. It also would relinquish any leases it has on the two casino parking lots downtown and the office space in them to make those buildings controlled by the city.

City officials said the current empty lots along Farnsworth Avenue generate about $150,000 a year in property taxes, but that could increase to about $5.5 million when the casino is built. With a tax increment financing district on that property, it will be used to pay the debt service on the bond issue incurred by the city.

If the property does not generate $5.5 million a year in property taxes to pay the bonds, the casino has agreed to make up the difference, thereby guaranteeing the bond payments.

“This is not being paid out of any cash line item or from any tax dollars,” said Alex Alexandrou, Aurora’s chief management officer. “There are no city funds coming out of pocket.”

That guarantee did not convince a group of protesters who showed up at the council meeting, brandishing signs calling the bond issue a giveaway, bailout or handout to the casino corporation. At times the meeting was contentious, with people calling out and interrupting, so much so that several of the protesters were removed from the meeting.

Most of the protesters had come before the council before, criticizing the bond issue and asking the council to delay its vote until there could be more citizen input on the agreement.

“Who do you think you work for?” said Aurora resident David Cannon. “You work for Aurorans. Please do not gamble our money away.”

Cannon was eventually led from the meeting for interruptions, yelling out “no more money to billionaires” and a couple of swear words as he was led out.

Also led out was John Laesch, a former East Aurora School Board member, who criticized the use of a tax increment financing district to collect the bond repayment money, and the bond issue itself. He called for “no taxpayer subsidized” money to businesses.

Another protester led out was Nathan Sheppard, a student, who said the city would be “wasting $60 million when people are in need of housing.”

Other protesters agreed instead of helping the casino, the city should be providing more affordable housing in the city, and should help feed the hungry.

Shannon Cameron, executive director of the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry, asked the council to table the agreement “to come up with a better deal.” She said Aurorans need more affordable housing and living wage jobs, and that too many Aurorans are going hungry.

Others at the meeting, particularly representatives of some area unions and the Fox Valley Trades Council, said they support the agreement and the casino project.

Rich Whitcomb, an Aurora resident and member of the Teamsters Union, said the project will provide “opportunities for local contractors,” and will create “hundreds of permanent jobs, once completed.”

Joel Pyle, business manager of the local Electricians Union, said “Aurora has needed something like this for a while.” Agreeing with him was Cort Carlson, executive director of the Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, who said the project is “ushering in a new era of tourism for Aurora.”

“We are tired of watching hotel taxes go to other communities,” said Alexandrou.

Alexandrou told City Council members the general obligation bond the city intends to pass “is not a bailout … it’s not a handout … it’s not a grant – none of these things apply to this project.”

He said the city’s investment in the project is about 16% of the deal, meaning the casino is putting in 84%. And the casino is guaranteeing the payback of the city’s bond issue.

“The city bond is an investment for a definite return based on past performance, based on projections,” Alexandrou said.

Alexandrou said those projections are based on the performance of the Simon Chicago Premium Outlets mall next door to the proposed casino, which is 93% leased and brings in more than eight million visitors a year. He said there are about 107,000 vehicles a day going through the Farnsworth Avenue and I-88 interchange, compared to about 8,000 vehicles a day along New York Street, by the current casino downtown.

He added that the casino will have a 200-room hotel on the property, “which creates a resort experience.”

“They are providing a new competitive market, better equipped to compete in Illinois,” Alexandrou said.

City officials pointed out that the casino is one of the four pillars of revenue for the city of Aurora, along with the Paramount Theatre, Fox Valley Mall and the outlet mall. But the casino’s gaming tax payments to the city have dwindled through the years, and officials are looking at the new location to pick that up.

Ald. Michael Saville, 6th Ward, pointed out that he voted in favor of the casino when it first came to Aurora in 1993, and intended to do so again. He said while the casino did not realize the promise of generating more business throughout downtown Aurora, it “was a piece of the puzzle,” creating revenue for capital projects such as the riverwalk through downtown, and many projects in his 6th Ward.

City officials said the casino contributed some $300 million in gaming taxes to the city in the past 30 years, or an average of $10 million a year.

“The casino literally saved my ward,” Saville said. “I can go up and down the streets and show you.”

Ald. Sherman Jenkins, at large, who was the city’s economic development officer when the outlet mall came to town, pointed out that it has far exceeded its projections for revenue. He said the city is investing in its future, and Hollywood Casino “has stepped forward” with its new facility.

“This is an investment in our future,” he said. “There is no major development in this country that doesn’t require an investment by the municipality in the area. C’mon, let’s be realistic.”

slord@tribpub.com