Rockford’s Hard Rock Casino Takes Next Step In Approval Process

Article by : Helen Feb 8, 2021

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Updated: Mar 25, 2022

After the establishment of the Rebuild Illinois Act on June 29, 2019, it didn’t take much time for Hard Rock International to throw its effort into expanding its US footprint by launching a brand-new gambling property in Rockford. The Rockford City Council selected HRI to be the only operator to launch a casino in the city. It gave the company the green light to apply for the Illinois Gaming Board license.

The Hard Rock Casino is supposed to be built at the former Clock Tower Resort location. It will occupy over 65,000 meters and will include different retail stores, a bunch of restaurants, a Hard Rock Live concert venue, a massive gambling area with around 1,500 slot machines and 60 table games, and of course, a luxury hotel. The initial budget for the project is set to $310 million. It includes over 1,200 construction jobs to build the casino. The operator also plans to hire up to 1,000 permanent employees after the casino is built.

Unluckily, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and some other roadblocks, Hard Rock International had to wait for more than a year to get the final approval for the Rockford’s Hard Rock Casino project. It finally got back on the Illinois Gaming Board’s meeting agenda, but some more steps were left to be taken before getting the license.

To prove that the casino operator deserves the license, HRI had to make the so-called Preliminary Suitability Presentation, where it would publically present its project in front of the Gaming Board. The virtual Board meeting took place on January 27, 2021. The topics for discussions included the eligibility of the Rockford’s Hard Rock Casino for being licenses, its coverage of the license requirements, its funding sources for the casino, and some other important topics. The company was pretty confident in the success of its proposal.

We’re grateful for the continued support from the Rockford community and can’t wait to get this exciting, highly anticipated project moving forward to benefit the region.

For the sake of the new gambling venue, HRI established working relations with more than 50 Rockford investors. Though the company didn’t doubt the reliability of its investors, the Gaming Board found out that several investors were unsuitable, which would delay the final decision on the project. Jon Lucas, Chief Operating Officer at HRI, said that the company is ready to speed up to find additional financial resources. He also added that many other investors are willing to invest more into their project so that it can be launched as soon as possible.

Other than that, the Preliminary Suitability Presentation went smoothly, with the HRI having shown its readiness for being licensed. The company also highlighted the fact that more than 40% of its funding resources come from minority persons and women, which definitely over fulfills the required statutory goals.

Marcus Fruchter, Gaming Board Administrator, said that the regulator would have another meeting on February 4, 2021, to discuss the HRI’s suitability in a close session. After that, the Gaming Board will vote in an open session. However, even everything goes well, that won’t be the final stage of the approval process. HRI will be asked to provide a detailed plan on the property operations. When the plan is approved, the company will be able to proceed with construction. The last step of the approval process will be a “final practice gaming session,” during which the Board will be making sure whether the gambling venue operates according to all the standards.