That bidder would then have to apply for state approval. The mayor has put together a City Council committee to narrow the field down to one finalist within the next few months. Auchi was a partner with Tony Rezko - the political fixer who was convicted of kickback schemes under disgraced ex-Gov. One of them, Leslie Bluhm, who went to law school with Lightfoot, co-hosted a campaign fundraiser and remains close friends with the mayor.Īdditionally, part of the 78 site is still owned by Nahdmi Auchi, an Iraqi billionaire who is prohibited from entering the United States because he was convicted of taking illegal commissions in a French oil deal.
Bluhm’s daughters donated more than $212,000 to Lightfoot’s first mayoral campaign. The 78 bid also presents a potential problem of political optics for Lightfoot.īluhm - who founded Illinois’ most lucrative existing casino, Rivers Casino in Des Plaines - and his family have close ties to the mayor. That proposal aims to break ground within the 62 vacant South Loop. Lightfoot accused of ‘stacking the deck’ on Chicago casino committee Bluhm’s second hand in the Chicago casino game is a partnership with development firm Related Midwest as Rivers 78 Gaming LLC.
