As Bally’s Chicago struggles to navigate video gambling terminals in the city, a construction slowdown and a recent “going concern” warning over liquidity issues, a new problem has surfaced — a former contractor claims he is owed millions for work on the $1.7 billion casino complex going up in River West.
MGM Excavating filed mechanics liens last month in Cook County Circuit Court against Bally’s Chicago and the Chicago Community Builders Collective, the general contracting partnership overseeing construction, seeking more than $3.8 million for completed work at the site through March.
That total includes balances due to two minority-owned subcontractors hired by MGM — B.B.D. Trucking and E. King Construction Co. — which are owed $2 million and $700,000 respectively, according to the companies.
“We hauled away dirt, we brought in stone,” said Sharonda Williams, vice president of B.B.D. Trucking. “The work was completed, the bills were submitted and they owe us for the work.”
Bally’s said the money was paid in full to CCBC, which is withholding the payments pending an accounting investigation amid allegations that an unnamed company hired by an MGM subcontractor was not approved by the Gaming Board to work at the site.
As such, the Rhode Island-based casino company is passing the buck to its general contractor.
“Bally’s has fulfilled its payment obligations to CCBC, which serves as the stewards of those funds,” Bally’s said in a statement. “Any outstanding payment dispute is between CCBC and the subcontractor and does not involve an unpaid obligation by Bally’s.”
In a separate statement, CCBC acknowledged that it is working to resolve the payment issue with a “former contractor” and its vendors. B.B.D. said CCBC contacted the company this week to request billing documentation for outstanding invoices.
MGM denies the allegation of employing an unlicensed vendor and is digging in, along with its subcontractors, on demands to get paid.
A 20-year-old Lombard-based company that has helped build foundations at major construction projects across the Chicago area, MGM Excavating was retained as a contractor early in the process by Bally’s Chicago and the CCBC, which broke ground at the site of the former Tribune printing plant in February 2025.
But the payments dried up in March 2026, and by April, MGM Excavating was off the job and owed nearly $4 million, much of which was earmarked for its subcontractors. MGM said it walked for lack of payment, while CCBC said the contractor was terminated.
“We completed one of the two contracts, and ceased work on the second because we weren’t paid,” a company spokesperson said. “But our building excavation contract was completed in full.“
Last month, MGM filed $2.7 million and $1.1 million claims for mechanics liens in Cook County Circuit Court against Bally’s Chicago and the CCBC for unpaid excavation, site demolition and grading at the construction site performed through April.
The liens also name Gaming and Leisure Properties, a Pennsylvania-based real estate investment trust that financed the construction of the permanent casino.
“We are actively working to resolve a contractual matter with a former contractor and its vendors,” CCBC said in a statement. “We remain focused on addressing the matter and moving the project forward.”
Construction equipment sits at the Bally’s Chicago casino project site along the 500 block of West Grand Avenue on Aug. 9, 2026. Bally’s Chicago issued a notice pausing construction on nearly all nongaming amenities at its $1.7 billion casino complex going up in River West. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
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Construction equipment sits at the Bally’s Chicago casino project site along the 500 block of West Grand Avenue on Aug. 9, 2026. Bally’s Chicago issued a notice pausing construction on nearly all nongaming amenities at its $1.7 billion casino complex going up in River West. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
In May 2022, Bally’s won a heated competition to build a $1.7 billion entertainment complex, including a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions, at the site of the former Tribune printing plant in River West. Bally’s has been operating a smaller temporary casino at Medinah Temple in River North since 2023.
The compliance issue reared its head early in the construction process when the Gaming Board issued a two-week construction stoppage order in May 2025 over the unauthorized subcontracting of waste hauler D&P Construction of Melrose Park, which was alleged to have had previous ties to organized crime.
When the Gaming Board gave Bally’s and CCBC the green light to resume construction, it issued a statement saying that “no vendors are working on the casino construction project without IGB approval.”
Reached this week, the Gaming Board did not weigh in on the payment dispute with MGM or the new allegations of an unauthorized third-tier subcontractor at the site.
“We do not have any comment on this commercial dispute or related mechanics lien litigation,” the Gaming Board said in a statement. “Additionally, and as a general matter, the IGB does not comment about possible, actual or pending investigations.”
There are 411 contractors and subcontractors working on the massive construction project, Bally’s Chicago said. MGM is associated with three of five mechanics liens filed against the project over unpaid invoices, according to records obtained by the Tribune
The payment dispute with MGM and its chain of subcontractors is just the latest setback for Bally’s Chicago, which recently issued a going concern warning and slowed construction at its casino complex.
The Aug. 17 warning, part of a second-quarter earnings report, stated that Bally’s is looking to raise cash through asset sales, an equity offering or debt financing to improve liquidity by early next year to stay in compliance with lenders.
Bally’s Chicago also sent a reset notice Aug. 8 to the CCBC, putting everything from the 34-story hotel and events center to a number of planned restaurants on hold, citing City Council’s approval of video gambling terminals as a violation of its host agreement.
The city chose not to wade into the dispute between Bally’s Chicago/CCBC and the unpaid contractors, reissuing a statement from the Chicago Department of Law and declining further comment Monday.
“The City expects Bally’s to adhere to the Host Community Agreement,” the statement said. “Any additional comment from the Law Department would be inappropriate at this time.”
At the behest of 28 aldermen who issued a demand letter calling for the resumption of the full development project, Bally’s Chicago is scheduled for a Sept. 9 hearing in front of City Council to address its financial position, the advent of video gambling terminals in the city and the casino company’s capacity to fulfill the Host Community Agreement to build Chicago’s first casino.
It is likely the unpaid contractors’ dispute may also make the agenda.
The $2 million owed to B.B.D. Trucking is at the top of the list for Williams, 42, who took the helm of the family-owned company after her father, who founded it nearly 50 years ago, died in January 2025. Based in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the city’s South Side, B.B.D. began working as an approved subcontractor at the Bally’s Chicago site in March 2025, and left in March 2026 when the payments stopped.
Williams said she owes more than half of the $2 million to approved subcontractors that worked for her on the project.
“We owe money out to people, so absolutely, I’m worried about it,” Williams said.
The CCBC reached out to B.B.D. this week requesting copies of her MGM contract, invoices and payments received, her certifications and a letter documenting her claim, Williams said. It was the first time she has heard from the CCBC regarding the payment dispute since May, she said.
Meanwhile, E. King Construction, a minority woman-owned trucking business based in the Ashburn neighborhood on the city’s West Side, was also subcontracted by MGM, and is owed $700,000 for work performed from February to April at the Bally’s Chicago construction site.
“It’s a lot of money, and I’m a very, very small business,” said owner Elaine King, who founded her trucking firm 27 years ago.
An authorized subcontractor fully approved by the Gaming Board, King has been at the Bally’s Chicago site for over a year. While she continues doing some work there for another contractor, King is still awaiting payment for the jobs she did under MGM.
Getting paid, she said, should not be a matter of dispute.
“I hauled the dirt out,” King said. “I’ve got dump fees, disposal fees, all kinds of fees. There’s no discrepancy there.”
Tribune reporter Alice Yin contributed.