CDI plans to sell Arlington for redevelopment
Matt Hegarty
https://www.drf.com/news/cdi-plans-s...-redevelopment
Churchill Downs Inc. intends to put its Arlington Park property up for sale, calling it a “unique redevelopment opportunity,” the company announced on Tuesday afternoon.
The company, which merged with Arlington in 2000, said that it was “committed to running Arlington’s 2021 race dates,” which are scheduled this year from April 30 to Sept. 25.
“The company does not expect any sale of the Arlington site to close prior to the conclusion of Arlington’s 2021 race meet or that the conduct of the sale process will impact Arlington’s racing operations this year,” the statement said.
The statement also said that Churchill would look to “relocate” Arlington’s racing license “to another community in the Chicagoland area or elsewhere in the state.”
“We are committed to the Illinois Thoroughbred racing industry and will consider all options in working toward opportunities for it to continue in the future,” said Bill Castanjen, the company’s chief executive officer.
Company officials have hinted for years that Arlington would soon go on the selling block. The track, an architectural gem located in the northwest Chicago metropolitan area, has in recent years struggled financially. Last year, Arlington was one of the few tracks operating during the pandemic that posted lower per-race handle numbers than in the year prior.
When Churchill merged with Arlington in 2000, the company expected to get the right to operate slot machines or casinos at the track. That never materialized, even as Illinois awarded licenses for 11 standalone casino locations.
In the summer of 2019, Churchill bought a majority stake in the River Casino Des Plaines in the Chicago metro area, just 10 miles from Arlington. The company then passed on an opportunity to bid for a casino license at Arlington, saying the state’s tax regulations and requirements for purse subsidies would make a casino there “financially untenable,” according to comments made at the time by Carstanjen.
The Tuesday release makes it clear that Churchill does not believe that it will find a buyer interested in running the racetrack, which was rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1985 by the track’s owner, Dick Duchossois, at a cost of $100 million.
“Arlington’s ideal location in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, together with direct access to downtown Chicago via an on-site Metra rail station, presents a unique redevelopment opportunity,” the release said. “We expect to see robust interest in the site.”
The Duchossois family was made a major shareholder of Churchill after the 2000 merger, and the company in recent years has negotiated three separate transactions to buy back the family’s shares, at a total cost of $490.1 million. The family still has two million shares of the company.