A vacant industrial building across the street from Bally’s planned permanent casino in the city’s River West neighborhood would transform into a House of Horrors, under a plan announced Thursday.
Universal Destinations & Experiences, a division of Comcast NBCUniversal, has chosen Chicago to build its second year-round entertainment complex in the nation — and the first in the Midwest. NBCUniversal’s first such immersive park is scheduled to open in Las Vegas in August.
Dubbed “Universal Horror Unleashed,” the project would transform a 114,000 square-foot commercial building at 700 W. Chicago Ave. that most recently served as the Chicago Tribune’s distribution center into a fright-fest for tourists and Chicagoans alike.
Labeled in the entertainment industry as “immersive experiential retail,” the complex would include everything from multiple haunted houses and amusement park-style rides to “sinister scare zones” and “scare actors on the prowl.” The complex would also include live entertainment, and themed food, drinks and merchandise.
The scary attractions will not be for the faint of heart. They’ll all be based on horror movies and characters that NBCUniversal has made famous, including “The Exorcist: Believer,” “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” “Universal Monsters,” and “Scarecrow: The Reaping.”
It’ll be the second “horror entertainment experience” to be built by the themed entertainment division of Comcast NBCUniversal and the first outside Las Vegas.
Thursday’s announcement marks the first good news in years for a $1.4 billion Bally’s casino project that has been beset by challenges, several of the company’s own making.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said he hopes the “Horror Unleashed” project would bring “yet another exciting new attraction” to Chicago and “draw more fans to the beautiful city we all call home.”
The mayor credited World Business Chicago, which saw three of its top leaders exit eighteen months ago, with working “hard to make this happen through high-level meetings and exchanges” since last fall.
Planning and Development Commissioner Ciere Boatright said there have so far been “no applications for city incentives.” But Johnson said WBC’s leadership team offered “support around space, permits, zoning and site access.”
“ I have no doubt that fans of this genre will flock to our city for these memorable experiences,” Johnson told a City Hall news conference. “This project and redevelopment will…uplift and revitalize a dynamic neighborhood…When completed, this venue will not only bring growth with new visitors to this community. It will also create 400 permanent jobs for Chicagoans.”
Philip Clement, president and CEO of World Business Chicago, called Universal’s investment a “bit of a declaration.
“Chicago isn’t just participating in the rise of the experiential economy. We’re defining it. From the South Side to River West, from Navy Pier to Michigan Avenue, we’re seeing bold moves that define culture, entertainment and economic development,” Clement said.
The momentum cited by Clement includes: the Obama Presidential Center; the proposed Chicago Fire stadium at the South Loop parcel known as “the 78”; the 1901 Project that will transform a sea of parking lots around the United Center into a dynamic residential and entertainment complex and Bally’s permanent casino.
“Universal’s decision to bring `Horror Unleashed’ stands out as a huge vote of confidence in our city, but it doesn’t stand alone. It joins a powerful wave that’s transforming underused space into opportunity and elevating Chicago’s status as a national model for what’s next in entertainment.”
Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), the vice mayor and Zoning Committee chair whose fast-growing ward includes the permanent casino site, said he views Universal’s investment as a “pivot” after three projects proposed for the site — a technology center and two residential proposals — stalled for lack of financing and a developer’s dispute with organized labor.
Burnett said he’s “not into the horror stuff” himself. But he knows tons of people who “just love it. They love to get scared.”
“Across from Bally’s, it’ll give some folks a chance to bring their children. Their kids can go to the horror place and the parents can go gamble. It’ll bring that critical mass to that area and, who knows? Hopefully, we’ll start seeing other stuff pop up,” Burnett said.
“Universal Horror Unleashed” will also bring the riverfront site full circle. When Burnett was a kid, he and his friends called the vacant parcel “Ghost Town.”
“It was always empty…There was a rumor that there were ghosts over there,” Burnett said laughing. “We’d be walking around and somebody would say, `Did you see that?’ And everybody would get scared and run. When they ran, I ran.”