The City of Davenport heard in-depth presentations from developers interested in building a land based casino. The city is working on buying Rhythm City for $46-Million dollars and moving the casino on land. Three developers gave presentations and all of them have 3 different locations in mind.
First up was Minnesota based Ingenus. The company is proposing a $105-million project that includes 2 casinos. The main casino would go around I-280 and I-80 and would include 1200 gaming machines and a hotel. A smaller boutique casino would go near the River Center on 2nd and Perry. The Downtown casino would be for higher end, private gaming.
Ken Mimmack, President and CEO Ingenus Management says, "I think our message is related to the license. We can not only maximize the value, we can also maximize the value it has on the community. So, that's why we're talking about 2 sites, we think it's very creative."
The second presentation was from Restoration St. Louis. They are proposing a $155-million downtown casino on the entire block that houses the Parker-Putnam Towers. There are several financing options, and plans include a casino, hotel, rooftop night club and restaurants. Owners say existing businesses in the area will not have to move.
"People are here to go to the convention center; people are here to go to the Figge, as well as to gamble. You have so much more opportunity to cover that gaming revenue rather than put all your eggs in 1 basket to run out to the highway to capture that 1%," says Amy Gill of Restoration St. Louis.
Atrium holdings gave the smallest presentation. Their plan includes a 2 phase project that would turn the Radisson Hotel into a hotel casino. The first phase, which includes building the gaming floor, would be done by 2014.
The 2nd phase includes expanding into the parking lot. The developer says their plan had less risk, because they're already downtown.
Daniel Abernethy/ Atrium Holdings
"We think it's best because it retains the license in the downtown market and helps the city achieve the ultimate goal, which is to spur economic development downtown," says Daniel Abernethy from Atrium Holdings, "It will create more jobs and more business opportunities."
Each of the presentations was 2 hours long. They included a look at plans, parking, funding, and questions from the panel. The panel was made of city leaders, members of the RDA, representatives from the DCIC and chamber of commerce.
