Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld (left) revealed a November 11 opening date for the new Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino. (Image: Peter Cavanagh / Alamy)

After a series of delays pushed back its grand opening, the Wind Creek Chicago Southland casino now appears ready to open its doors next month.

Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld told the Daily Southtown that casino officials plan to open the Illinois casino complex on November 11, pending final approval by the Illinois Gaming Board.

Construction Delays, Rising Costs Altered Initial Design

Wind Creek Chicago Southland is owned by Wind Creek Hospitality, a subsidiary of PCI Gaming Authority Inc., which manages gaming properties in several jurisdictions for Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians. 

Wind Creek initially gained approval from Illinois to build and operate the casino on land in Homewood and East Hazel Crest – neighboring towns just south of Chicago – in December 2021. Initially, developers had hoped to open the casino by the third quarter of 2023. However, delays have pushed that opening date back multiple times. 

Hofeld says that he and other town officials took a tour of the casino a month ago, and that he left impressed. 

“I was absolutely amazed,” Hofeld said. “I didn’t expect it to be as beautiful as it is. It takes your breath away.”

The 75,000-square-foot casino is being built on property southwest of the interchange of Interstate 80 and Halsted Street. The gaming floor will include 1,350 slot machines along with 56 table games. The facility will also include a large buffet area and a 10,000-square-foot entertainment area, based on public plans for the resort.

A 16-story, 252-room hotel is also part of the design. However, that hotel won’t open until early 2025. The hotel was initially planned as a 21-floor building, but Wind Creek officials opted for the shorter design – still with the same number of rooms – as delays and construction costs mounted. 

Revenue Shared Throughout South Suburban Municipalities

In total, the project is costing Wind Creek about $529 million, including the licensing fees paid to the state. 

Like other casinos in Illinois, the Wind Creek Chicago Southland will share its gaming revenue with local communities. However, it won’t just be Homewood and East Hazel Crest that share in the bounty. The legislation that allowed for the casino including provisions that will have some revenue shared with 42 other communities in the south suburban area outside of Chicago.

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians operate 10 casinos and several other gaming properties in the United States. That includes the Wind Creek Hotel and Casino in Wetumpka, Alabama, which has been the subject of lawsuits brought by the Muscogee Creek Nation, which says that the Poarch Band failed to preserve its sacred ancestral grounds when building the facility. 

There are currently 15 commercial casinos operating in Illinois, which combined to collect 'link_text_goes_here','CC - News - US - Article','53253','','','','gtm-content-internal-links'32.1 million in revenue for September 2024. That includes the temporary Bally’s Chicago facility at Medinah Temple in River North. Bally’s recently began demolition on the permanent facility for its Chicago casino, which will be located at the former Chicago Tribune press building in River West.