Balmoral Park on the market for $4 million
Post-harness racing, Crete track had rebirth with horse jumping
Storied harness racing track Balmoral Park near Crete, later converted to a horse show-jumping venue, is on the market with an asking price of $4 million.
The 200-acre property was recently put up for sale, according to Nick Oosting, an agent with Re/ Max 2000.
He declined to identify who owns the property, saying he was not at liberty to provide additional information.
The park, 26435 S. Dixie Highway, in unincorporated Will County just outside of Crete, had been home to both harness and thoroughbred racing over the decades, but hosted its final harness races the day after Christmas in 2015 after track owners filed for bankruptcy.
It was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2016 for $1.6 million by New York-based Horse Shows in the Sun, or HITS, which undertook an extensive renovation and conversion to host horse jumping events. The first such events took place in 2017.
About a year ago, HITS confirmed it had a sale of the property pending with developer Phil Goldberg, who planned to reintroduce harness racing and develop a casino on the site.
Goldberg did not respond to a request for comment and messages left with HITS representatives regarding the status of the property were not returned. Crete officials also did not return messages.
Hurdles to his proposal for bringing gambling to the site included wording in legislation that permitted a horse track and casino to operate only in one of six south suburban Cook County townships, whichwould exclude the Balmoral property and include a reworking of the legislation.
On top of that, the deed fromthe 2016 sale of the property prohibits any type of gambling, including horse racing and casino gambling, on the property until 2026.
Real estate developer and video
gambling terminal operator Rick Heidner had bid $1.8 million for the Balmoral property but creditors had favored the HITS offer.
Heidner had proposed a combination harness race and casino, or racino, for the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center, which the state planned to sell to the village of Tinley Park.
The village, in turn, planned to sell the land Heidner before Gov. J.B. Pritzker last year stepped in to quash the deal.
Balmoral opened in 1926 as Lincoln Fields and was changed to Balmoral in 1955 under new owners.
While HITS didn’t disclose what it spent to covert the property from harness racing to equestrian events that drew riders from around the world, the work included a massive renovation of the stables as well as removal of the oval track and infield.
Ten competition arenas or rings were built, with paths running among them and bleachers set up for spectators.
Much of the property remained intact, including the 4,400-seat enclosed grandstand, and other elements of the track’s history, such as the finish line pole, were incorporated in the makeover.