With a new casino opening less than 10 miles across the Indiana-Illinois border, one gaming analyst said Northwest Indiana’s industry has expected this for decades.
“They’ve been talking about this for about 20 or 30 years,” Ed Feigenbaum said. “It’s kind of a surprise this didn’t happen sooner.”
Wind Creek’s Chicago Southland Casino is set to open Monday in Homewood, Illinois, which is about 30 minutes west of both Horseshoe Hammond Casino and Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana in Gary.
Crews started work on the Chicago Southland casino in September 2022.
The new casino is set to span 75,000 square feet in East Hazel Crest with parking garages on adjacent land in Homewood, according to archives from the Daily Southtown. The casino will also feature a 252-room hotel, which is scheduled to be completed in January and will open in February.
Wind Creek estimates that the casino will generate $155.6 million in its first year and $201.1 million in its seventh year. The casino is also projected to create 800 full-time jobs when fully operational, according to Wind Creek’s website.
“It is a major facility,” Feigenbaum said. “It’s got the same number of machines and table games as a regular, large casino in Indiana, and it has a substantial hotel component to it.”
Wind Creek is a subsidiary of PCI Gaming Authority Inc., which oversees 10 casinos and other gaming properties for the Alabama-based Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
Indiana gaming industry experts have feared an Illinois casino that would attract people from Chicago’s south suburbs, Feigenbaum said.
The Homewood casino is going to attract “a good number” of people who have been visiting Horseshoe and Hard Rock, Feigenbaum added.
Matt Schuffert, president of Hard Rock Northern Indiana, declined to comment on potential impacts to the Gary casino, a spokesman said in an email. A spokesman for Horseshoe Hammond Casino did not respond to a request for comment.
Horseshoe will most likely be hit harder by Wind Creek’s opening, Feigenbaum said. The Hammond casino doesn’t have a hotel, but Wind Creek will.
“Horseshoe is not as big a property,” he added. “They have more of a local clientele, and it’s not really a purpose-specific kind of casino.”
Feigenbaum also believes that clients appreciate newer facilities and amenities, such as at Hard Rock and Wind Creek. He also thinks the Lake County Convention Center might hurt Horseshoe, especially if it’s built as part of the Hard Rock property.
Hard Rock partnered with the city of Gary to propose a convention center next to the existing casino. The proposal included an 145,000-square foot building with a 40,000-square foot exhibit hall, an 18,000-square foot ballroom and two pre-function rooms, according to Post-Tribune archives. The second floor will have two meeting rooms and administrative offices, and the roof will have an outdoor deck.
Gary and Hobart are the only two Northwest Indiana communities that presented a proposal for the convention center. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott previously said his city won’t submit a proposal for the convention center.
“If the convention center is built as part of the Hard Rock property, I don’t want to say that’s game over for Horseshoe, but it certainly makes life even more difficult,” Feigenbaum said. “Horseshoe is facing a lot of battles right now.”
Hard Rock might have more willingness to fight back against negative impacts from Wind Creek’s Chicago Southland Casino, he added, even if it doesn’t win the convention center bid. Feigenbaum believes a substantial hotel will still be built on Hard Rock’s property.
Indiana casinos permit smoking, Feigenbaum said, which can be either an advantage or disadvantage.
“If you’re a non-smoker, and you live close to the border, you might say, ‘OK, I’m going to Wind Creek because they’re non-smoking,’” he said. “If you don’t care, or you want a casino where you can smoke, you can go to Indiana.”
Feigenbaum encourages both Horseshoe and Hard Rock to find what will differentiate them from their competition. He also encourages them to cater to demographics that visit each casino most.
“The market’s going to expand at least slightly, but there’s going to be cannibalization,” Feigenbaum said. “You’ve got to figure out how you’re going to be able to compete.”