Churchill Downs Inc. receives 'strong proposals' for Arlington property

CHICAGO – The deadline set by Churchill Downs Inc. for offers on the Arlington International property passed at 5 p.m. Tuesday, but there’s little known about where things stand in CDI’s attempt to sell the iconic Chicago-area racing venue.

CDI has repeatedly stated its intent to sell Arlington and has indicated the ongoing racing season will be the last at the track, located in Arlington Heights, Ill., a suburb northwest of Chicago. This past February, it announced the June 15 deadline and said it had retained CBRE Group, a commercial real estate company, to market the property to developers.

CDI issued a statement after the Tuesday deadline saying it had “strong proposals from numerous parties,” according to a story Wednesday in the Northwest Daily-Herald.

The one group known to be pursuing the 336-acre property wants to continue racing at Arlington. Endeavor Properties LLC, headed by former Arlington president Roy Arnold, issued a Tuesday press release outlining its offer. The group, composed of developers and individual investors said to be committed to continue racing at Arlington, wants to parcel out the site, decreasing the size of the stabling area and using parts of the tract for a minor-league hockey arena as well as residential development and an industrial zone.

A new owner would have to apply for a state license to operate a racetrack. CDI and Arlington were granted permission in a 2019 gambling expansion law to open an ontrack casino but declined to apply for a casino-operator license with the Illinois Gaming Board. The deadline for that application passed two autumns ago, and a new owner would have to seek a change in state law if they desired a license to conduct wagering other than horse racing.

CDI has continually said it wants to move its racing license to a different venue beginning in 2022. The corporation still owns Quad City Downs, a defunct harness racing track in East Moline, Ill., and is thought to be pursuing a racing license with minimal commitment to host live races in order to continue operating its account-wagering division, Twinspires, in Illinois. Twinspires does good business in the state but could be forced to cease taking bets here if it lacks a bricks-and-mortar racing facility with which to be associated, a requirement of state law.