Craig Lyons and Karen Caffarini, Post-Tribune
Gary and casino officials are readying to move the Majestic Star from
Buffington Harbor and redevelop the Lake Michigan shoreline.
The
Indiana House of Representatives and Senate Wednesday passed
legislation that would pave the way for a land-based casino in Gary,
giving the city an opportunity to redevelop Buffington Harbor. Both
Gary’s mayor and Spectacle Entertainment’s leadership are ready to move
quickly on the two projects.
“We’re extremely pleased,” said Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.
The
gaming bill that would allow Spectacle Entertainment, which owns Gary’s
Majestic Star casinos, to build a new facility near the Borman
Expressway, shifting gaming operations from Buffington Harbor. In order
to make the move, the Legislature would require Spectacle pay the state
$20 million but then give the company a $40 million tax credit for
surrendering one of two gaming licenses in Gary.
The Senate passed the bill 37-12, and the House passed the bill 59-76.
John
Keeler, general counsel for Spectacle Entertainment, said the casino
company would move “as expeditiously as possible” on the construction of
its new casino, but added there are still several hurdles it needs to
cross, including obtaining the governor’s signature.
Gov. Eric
Holcomb has seven days from the time of the bill’s passage to either
sign or veto it. If he signs it, Keeler said Spectacle has to apply to
the Indiana Gaming Commission to relocate by the end of the year.
“This could take some time,” he said of the gaming commission process.
Keeler
also believes the company will need to go through the Gary regulatory
process to obtain rezoning approval to build the new casino on the
chosen site.
Keeler said Spectacle Entertainment has selected a
specific location, but would not divulge it at this time. He wouldn’t
commit to a time frame for when they would break ground or when they
would open the doors to the new facility.
“We’ll move as fast as we can, but there are a lot of moving parts,” Keeler said.
Freeman-Wilson said she thinks a groundbreaking for a new casino will happen before the end of 2019.
A new casino site will be a roughly $300 million
development, Freeman-Wilson said, and it will encourage related retail,
hotel and commercial developments along the expressway.
Keeler said the new casino would have a new name and brand, but that’s still in the discussion stage.
The
gaming bill is part of Gary’s plan to redevelop Buffington Harbor,
where Majestic’s two boats are now docked. If the casinos are allowed to
move, Gary is looking at an intermodal facility at Buffington Harbor.
In
the meantime, he said operations will continue as usual at the two
Majestic Star casinos in Buffington Harbor until the new casino is
operational.
“When the casino does vacate, we’ll easily be ready to go into that space in short order,” Freeman-Wilson said.
Majestic
Star is going to continue operations at its current locations,
Freeman-Wilson said, and that will give the city time to ramp up its
planning for the Buffington Harbor redevelopment.
As the casino
works on its move, Freeman-Wilson said the city has started looking for
potential private partners for the Buffington Harbor project and looking
at creating a request for proposals.
“We’ve had early conversations with interested groups,” Freeman-Wilson said.
Freeman-Wilson
said the city knows the project will require funding for improvements
around Buffington Harbor and officials have already reached out to the
federal Economic Development Administration.
While the casino
development is a major project for the city, Freeman-Wilson said the
next phase of Buffington Harbor is a top priority.
“That’s really what our big issue has been,” Freeman-Wilson said.
The
Buffington Harbor project will create an intermodal facility along the
lakefront, Freeman-Wilson said, and bring accessory development for
businesses related to shipping and logistics.
“We believe that it will be significant enough to create a separate industry,” Freeman-Wilson said.
As
the gaming bill worked through the legislature, it had opposition from
Region lawmakers and mayors who sought to limit any harm to Hammond and
East Chicago.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said he did his job and advocated for what was best for Hammond.
“I’m happy for Gary,” McDermott said. “At the end of the day, the governor and Gary prevailed.”
McDermott said he hopes Gary is right and that a new casino and intermodal facility will be successful.
Before
its final passed, legislators restored hold harmless provisions to the
gaming bill, which would provide financial compensation if a new Gary
casino cuts into revenues in Hammond, East Chicago or Michigan City.
“That doesn’t really affect us,” McDermott said.
If Horseshoe continues bringing in its current levels of revenue, it wouldn’t trigger the hold harmless provisions in the bill.
“We knew that it didn’t really help us,” McDermott said.
While
a spokesman for one of the area competitors, Blue Chip in Michigan
City, said he was disappointed with the legislation, he was confident
the casino could continue to compete effectively against the new
land-based facility.
“We are disappointed in this legislation,
which provides a single operator the ability to move to a much more
desirable location, and does not provide that opportunity to any other
operator in the state,” said David Strow, a spokesman for Blue Chip’s
parent company, Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming.
“Having said this, we
remain confident in the future of Blue Chip, and in our ability to
leverage our market-leading amenities and our talented tram to compete
effectively in the market,” Strow said.
Aside from potential
financial compensation for neighboring cities, the bill included
provisions that could assist displaced workers. Rep. Earl Harris Jr.,
D-East Chicago, added a provision that would give casino workers who
might lose their jobs because of the new Gary casino a chance to
transfer to that facility.
Spectacle Entertainment would possibly
offer jobs to workers at the area’s other three casinos who would lose
their positions as a result of the new casino, Keeler said the company
would be happy to give those workers a job offer.
“We thought we
would need an additional 400 workers over and above the 800 workers now
employed at the two Majestic Star casinos,” Keeler said.