The Cedar Rapids Growth Group (CRDG), the backers of the stalled on line casino resort challenge referred to as “Cedar Crossing,” will make its pitch to the Cedar Rapids Metropolis Council subsequent month as to why it ought to have first dibs on a city-owned plot of land simply west of the downtown space.
A rendering of the proposed Cedar Crossing on line casino resort in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The $250 million on line casino hopes to obtain a gaming license as soon as Iowa’s two-year moratorium on new gaming permits being issued expires in July 2024. (Picture: Peninsula Pacific Leisure)
The CRDG consists of native businesspeople who imagine bringing a on line casino to city would offer the Iowa city with an financial spark. Metropolis officers had been supportive of the challenge when it was final introduced in 2022, however the improvement was halted after the Iowa Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) a yr in the past this month handed a two-year moratorium on new on line casino licenses. The stoppage prevents the Iowa Racing and Gaming Fee from issuing new industrial gaming licenses till July 1, 2024.
Cedar Rapids officers have for a few years scolded the state gaming company for seemingly overlooking the city for a on line casino. Efforts to safe a on line casino license failed in each 2014 and 2017, as state officers sided with the state’s 19 riverboats in claiming that the market was already oversaturated.
The 2-year moratorium signed by Reynolds got here in response to new casinos opening in Nebraska, and additional claims by Iowa’s gaming pursuits {that a} Cedar Rapids on line casino would damage their operations.
Metropolis Pitch
Through the Cedar Rapids Metropolis Council assembly on July 11, representatives from the CRDG will go earlier than the council to make their case as to why the town ought to enter into an option-to-purchase settlement for a roughly 25-acre web site at the moment owned by the town. The land is positioned between F and I Avenue NW and First and Fifth Streets NW.
Within the proposed settlement, CRDG would pay $165K to the town to determine the settlement and possess the rights to buy the lot at a good market worth.
The choice-to-purchase deal would run by means of Dec. 31, 2025. If the Iowa Racing and Gaming Fee is contemplating a Cedar Rapids on line casino however hasn’t but authorised the challenge, the CRDG deal would enable a one-time extension by means of Dec. 31, 2026, for a further $55K charge to the town.
Peninsula Pacific Leisure (P2E) is CRDG’s gaming companion. Jonathan Swain, president of the California-based gaming agency, informed The Gazette that the corporate merely desires an opportunity to make its pitch to the state as to why such an endeavor is warranted.
I’m perpetually optimistic each in regards to the fee and the legislature,” mentioned Swain. “All we ask for is the chance to current our case earlier than each our bodies and make this chance for Cedar Rapids come to life.”
PGA Tour star Zach Johnson, who was raised in Cedar Rapids, was a part of the 2022 on line casino pitch. One of many city’s most recognizable and celebrated names, Johnson’s involvement was to incorporate a sportsbook and taproom referred to as “The Clubhouse by Zach Johnson.”
On line casino Particulars
The choice-to-purchase settlement going earlier than the Cedar Rapids Metropolis Council would require that any on line casino challenge embrace a minimal funding of $150 million.
The one-story facility would span a minimum of 125,000 sq. ft, with the on line casino counting for no less than 45,000 sq. ft. One other 12,000 sq. ft can be allotted for eating places, and there can be greater than 1,500 parking areas.
The builders have additionally agreed to direct 2.25% of the on line casino’s gross gaming income to an area fund that may be used to assist financial improvement, inexpensive housing, trails, and infrastructure in Cedar Rapids.
