Rockford Sun

City of Rockford Code & Regulation Committee met July 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

I. CALL TO ORDER 

Attendee Name	Organization	Title	Status	Arrived
Tim Durkee	City of Rockford	Alderman	Late
Gabrielle Torina	City of Rockford	Alderman	Present
Gina Meeks	City of Rockford	Alderman	Present
Mark Bonne	City of Rockford	Alderman	Present
Isidro Barrios	City of Rockford	Alderman	Present

Other Attendees:

Before the meeting started, the Mayor asked for a moment of silence for the young child who was murdered this past weekend. He asked for prayers for her family, and for the community.

Mayor McNamara announced that there was a special Code & Regulation Committee Meeting tonight, and turned the meeting over to Chairwoman Torina.

Chairwoman Torina called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m.

II. RESOLUTIONS 

1. Hard Rock Consent to Ground Lease

Resolution authorizing the City to consent to: (i) the sale of the land located at 7801 East State Street and 273 South Lyford Road, Rockford, IL 61108, by 815 Entertainment, LLC to GLP Capital, L.P., a Pennsylvania limited partnership (“GLP”); and (ii) the lease of the land located at 7801 East State Street and 273 South Lyford Road, Rockford, IL 61108, by GLP to 815 ENT Lessee LLC, an Illinois limited liability company (“815 ENT Lessee”); and (iii) the assignment of all the ground lessee’s right, title and interest in and to the Ground Lease by 815 ENT Lessee to 815 Entertainment

Nicholas Meyer, Legal Director for the City of Rockford, explained that Staff was contacted by 815 Entertainment regarding the sale of property with a lease back option. This would help them finalize financing for the project. Director Meyer noted that Kimberly Copp and Daniel Lindberg were present, and they are attorneys that are working with the City to finalize the agreement with Hard Rock Casino. He also noted that there was a representative present from Hard Rock. Attorney Copp introduced herself and stated that she practices law at Taft Stettinius & Hollister Law Firm, which is located at 111 East Wacker Drive in Chicago, Illinois. She further explained that her law firm worked with the City of Rockford on the host agreement with 815 Entertainment.

Attorney Copp continued by explaining that under the host agreement, the City must approve any transfer to the project site, which includes the land that the permanent casino will be located on. She stated that 815 Entertainment   include 815 Entertainment selling the property to GLP Capital, and the property would then be leased back to 815 Entertainment. Attorney Copp noted that this is a very common practice in the “casino world” in connection with a financing transaction. She also stated that GLP Capital is a subsidiary of a publicly traded company called Gaming and Leisure Property, Inc. She went on to say that the Illinois Gaming Board has already approved this transaction. She said that this particular lease will be a one hundred (100) year term lease, and that 815 Entertainment will be responsible for operations, constructions and payments.

With no further questions before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned.

RESULT: APPROVED BY COMMITTEE [UNANIMOUS]  MOVER: Mark Bonne, Alderman SECONDER: Gina Meeks, Alderman AYES: Durkee, Torina, Meeks, Bonne, Barrios

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