The new Hollywood Casino resort in Aurora, which has been under construction since 2023, is set to open June 24, officials announced Thursday.
The $360 million project — located along Farnsworth Avenue and Bilter Road, across the street from Chicago Premium Outlets mall and near the Interstate 88 interchange — will replace the casino currently in downtown Aurora. Throughout construction, officials have said that development has remained on-schedule.
The grand opening, announced by Hollywood Casino’s parent company PENN Entertainment on Thursday, is set to come less than a year after Joliet’s new land-based Hollywood Casino opened in August 2025.
“We are now months away from opening another premium entertainment destination in the greater Chicago region,” Jay Snowden, CEO and president of PENN Entertainment, said in a news release.
Additional details about the new Aurora casino’s planned grand opening are still to come, the company’s news release said.
The new land-based casino and resort in Aurora is expected to have 1,200 gaming positions, around 220 hotel rooms, a retail sportsbook, an outdoor entertainment area, a full-service spa, a roughly 12,000-square-foot event center with meeting areas and a number of bars and restaurants.
During the casino’s construction, PENN Entertainment has shared details around many of these amenities.
In late January, it was announced that the resort’s spa will be the second location of a Pennsylvania-based luxury wellness spa.
Drift Spa, by beauty and wellness entrepreneur Stacey Steffes, is set to offer classic spa experiences along with hair and beauty services. In addition to the services offered at the spa’s first location within the Marriott at Penn Square in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, it will also offer additional services including a “Drift Drybar.”
Along with Drift Spa, the on-site resort will feature an upscale 226-room hotel offering a variety of standard rooms and suites, PENN Entertainment’s recent news release said.
Early last year, it was announced that celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis will be opening an Italian steakhouse called Sorella at the new Aurora site. The restaurant is expected to have outdoor seating and an open kitchen with a menu including fresh pasta, steaks, Roman-style pizza and other Italian dishes.
Also coming to the Aurora site is the Boulevard Food & Drink Hall, which is set to include Lucky Goat, a burger restaurant by celebrity chef Stephanie Izard, as well as Antique Taco, Pretty Cool Ice Cream and Five50 Pizza.
The food hall is being developed in partnership with McClain Camarota Hospitality, the restaurant group of James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur Shawn McClain.
“These popular restaurateurs will provide our customers with amazing dining options at the new Hollywood Casino Aurora,” Rafael Verde, PENN Entertainment senior vice president of Regional Operations, said in the company’s news release. “Together with our hotel, event center, spa and additional amenities, patrons will experience a vibrant atmosphere at this new area attraction.”
The casino’s 12,000-square-foot event center will be able to host a variety of events, including meetings, conferences, weddings, galas, entertainment and more, according to the news release. Bookings are already underway, company officials said, and the first public events are set to be announced soon.
The city of Aurora is supporting the project through an agreed up-front payment of $50 million, to be paid back to the city through a tax increment financing district on the property. The passage of that TIF district was controversial and was opposed by current Mayor John Laesch when he was on City Council at the time.
Aurora still owes PENN Entertainment $21 million of that agreed payment, which company officials expect to receive before the end of the year, according to the news release.
City officials previously said that the incentive was needed to keep the casino in Aurora.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
