Across the heartland, the proliferation of new and expanded Las Vegas-style gaming resorts is widening the choices for action-packed meetings and group gatherings.
Casino projects are transforming the skylines of Detroit and St. Louis and are revitalizing riverfront towns. Massive new entertainment and gambling palaces will be opening soon along the Indiana side of Lake Michigan.
Kansas is moving quickly toward the day when its first commercial casinos open. And, benefiting from new casinos, Iowa led the country’s 12 commercial casino states in gaming revenue growth last year.
According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), commercial casinos nationwide enjoyed a 5.3 percent increase in gross gaming revenues last year. But for the most part, casino operators nationwide reported disappointing first quarter financial results: economic conditions and increased competition had begun to take a toll.
Indiana
The Hoosier State has 10 riverfront casinos and one land-based facility.
Five dockside facilities are located along Lake Michigan. They are part of Chicagoland, which, according to AGA, is the country’s third largest commercial casino market after the Vegas Strip and Atlantic City, with gaming revenues of $2.6 billion last year.
With no restrictions on the number of casino gaming positions (slot and electronic machines and table games), the state is seeing major Chicagoland expansions.
Harrah’s Entertainment’s $485 million expansion at Horseshoe Casino Hammond will debut this fall. A two-level vessel will have a first-floor 108,000-square-foot casino, twice the size of the existing facility with 3,200 slots and 100 table games. The second level will include a 2,500-seat theater accommodating 1,500 people for banquets.
Then, in December, Boyd Gaming’s Blue Chip Casino Hotel in Michigan City will unveil a $130 million expansion. A new 300-room hotel tower will bring total rooms to 484. The addition will also include a spa, a 1,200-seat entertainment complex and 15,000 square feet of additional conference space. In early 2006, it opened its new barge with 65,000 square feet of gaming.
Ameristar Casinos is spending $25 million to upgrade Resorts East Chicago, acquired in September 2007, and will rebrand it an Ameristar. It has a 1,900-slot casino, a 291-room hotel and 5,369 square feet of meeting and function space.
Chicagoland’s two other casinos are at the 300-room Majestic Star Casinos & Hotel at Buffington Harbor in Gary. One of the two adjacent casinos is the former Trump Indiana acquired by Majestic Star Casino LLC in December 2005.
Southeast Indiana has the country’s 12th largest casino market—four casinos on the Ohio River that draw business from Ohio and Kentucky.
At Lawrenceburg, 30 miles from Cincinnati, Penn National Gaming’s 300-room Argosy Hotel & Casino Lawrenceburg is undergoing a $300 million-plus expansion. A new casino opening in mid-2009 will double the gaming area to 175,000 square feet.
Across from Louisville, Ky., the 503-room Caesars Indiana in Elizabeth with golf and 14,000 square feet of meeting space was recently rebranded, becoming the Horseshoe Southern Indiana following a $53 million renovation that includes upgrading its 2,400-slot riverboat.
In Belterra, Pinnacle Entertainment’s Belterra Casino Resort & Spa expanded four years ago, doubling its room count to 600 and increasing meeting space to 33,000 square feet.
The area also has the 200-room Grand Victoria Casino & Resort by Hyatt in Rising Sun, with meeting space that includes a 1,200-seat theater.
West along the Ohio in Evansville, the Casino Aztar riverboat serves up an 11,000-square-foot executive conference center, a 250-room hotel and a 100-room boutique hotel that opened December 2006.
The state got its first non-riverfront casino in late 2006 with the roll out of French Lick Resort Casino at French Lick in southern Indiana.
First to open was a 1,200-slot casino and the first of two restored and expanded historic hotels—the French Lick Springs Hotel, which has a new 109,000-square-foot conference and event center. The West Baden Springs Hotel with 40,000 square feet of meeting and event space opened last year.
Illinois
The Prairie State has nine riverboat casinos, all on rivers, including five that are part of Chicagoland. It restricts casinos to a maximum of 1,200 gaming positions.
It also bans smoking: the Smoke Free Illinois Act, which prohibits smoking in public buildings, including casinos, went into effect Jan. 1. Harrah’s reported that the ban led to “sharp declines” in first-quarter revenues in the Illinois/Indiana region.
Joliet has two casinos: the 200-room Harrah’s Joliet, with 6,000 square feet of meeting and event space, and the 102-room, 1,100-slot Argosy Empress, which can host banquets for 500.
When Penn National acquired the Argosy as part of its acquisition of Argosy Gaming in 2005 it was required to divest itself of the property. However, early this year the Illinois Gaming Board ruled it could retain the facility and the company plans to invest $50 million on upgrading, beginning late this year.
Two others are about 40 miles from downtown Chicago: Grand Victoria Casino on the Fox River in Elgin and Penn National’s 1,180-slot Hollywood Casino in Aurora.
In the west, across the Mississippi from Davenport, Iowa, Rock Island will get a new casino in December. The new Jumer’s Casino & Hotel, replacing its existing casino, will feature a 205-room hotel, a 700-seat multipurpose event center and a 1,100-slot casino.
Metropolis in Southern Illinois on the Ohio River has Harrah’s Metropolis, which added a 252-room room hotel and a 1,250-seat multipurpose event center two years ago.
And East Peoria has Boyd Gaming’s 208-room Par-A-Dice Hotel & Casino with 20,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.
Two Illinois facilities are part of the St. Louis market: the Argosy Alton, 20 miles north of downtown, and the 150-room Casino Queen in East St. Louis, across the Mississippi from the Gateway Arch, which last summer replaced its riverboat with a new $92 million casino.
Missouri
The Show Me State got its 12th riverfront casino in December when Pinnacle Entertainment’s $507 million Lumiere Place debuted in St. Louis.
The first component, a new 2,000-slot casino, was followed in February by the unveiling of the 14-story, 200-room Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis with a ballroom holding 900 people.
Then came the 294-room HoteLumiere with 22,000 square feet of meeting space—a former Embassy Suites, which was renovated for $16 million and connected to Lumiere Place by a skybridge. The complex also includes the President Casino, a riverboat acquired by Pinnacle early last year.
Located at the Laclede’s Landing entertainment district, Lumiere Place is connected to the city’s America’s Center convention facility and central business district by moving walkways passing under I-70.
Ten miles south of downtown, Pinnacle expects in September to complete the foundations for its $350 million River City Casino & Hotel, slated to open next year.
St. Louis also has the 500-room Harrah’s St. Louis, Maryland Heights, with 12,000 square feet of meeting space.
Twenty miles north of downtown, the 3,300-slot Ameristar Casino St. Charles opened a 400-suite hotel and spa late last year. The first phase of the expansion, which includes 19,200 square feet of conference space, opened in September 2006.
While St. Louis is the nation’s eighth largest commercial casino market with gaming revenues of almost $1 billion last year, Kansas City is the country’s 13th largest, with revenues of $758 million.
Kansas City’s Argosy Casino Riverside opened a 258-room hotel last year. The Mediterranean-themed expansion includes a spa and 5,200 square feet of meeting space, which brought total meeting space to 22,000 square feet.
Others in town are the 184-room Ameristar Kansas City, the 390-room Harrah’s North Kansas City, and Isle of Capri Kansas City.
In Boonville on the Missouri River 100 miles from Kansas City, the Isle of Capri Casino Boonville added a 140-room hotel and an 800-seat entertainment venue two years ago.
Isle of Capri also purchased Casino Aztar in the state’s southeast corner in March last year and plans to rebrand it its first Lady Luck, a new brand for smaller casinos.
Kansas
Competition is coming from Kansas City, Kan., across the river. In April last year, Kansas passed the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act legalizing commercial casinos.
The state is moving ahead with an approval process to have one casino resort in each of four regions.
In late May the Kansas Lottery Commission approved contracts for 10 casino applicants in three regions that had been given the go-ahead by their local authorities. The contracts go to a review board, which is holding hearings through September and will select one developer for each region.
The southeast region had just one applicant, Penn National Gaming. The company plans to open a $225 million Hollywood Casino, hotel and event center in May 2010 off I-44 in the state’s southeast corner. The commission approved the project in May.
The 10 others expect their facilities to open in 2010 and 2011.
Five applications are for the northeast (Wyandotte County/Kansas City), most for sites near the Kansas Speedway. Investments range from $624 million to $772 million for projects of 2,300 to 5,000 slots.
Iowa
Leading gaming revenue growth nationwide last year was Iowa with a 16.2 percent increase followed by Mississippi, which grew by 12.5 percent in revenues.
Four new casinos have opened in the Hawkeye State since they were approved in 2005. Three opened in 2006, and one opened last year, bringing the total number of gaming riverboats to 14. Iowa also has three racetrack casinos and three Native American casinos.
The $65 million Riverside Casino & Golf Resort with 200 guest rooms, a 1,200-slot riverboat, a 12,420-square-foot event center, and a spa, opened two years ago south of Iowa City. An 18-hole Rees Jones-designed golf course opened last year.
Emmetsburg has the two-year-old 70-room Wild Rose Casino and Resort with banquet facilities for up to 300 people. Wild Rose’s owners also bought the Mississippi Belle II riverboat casino in Clinton in the east, which is being sold as an excursion vessel. They are replacing it with the new Wild Rose Casino and Resort opening later this summer that will include 60 guest rooms, a 600-slot casino and an events center.
Dubuque-based Peninsula Gaming opened the Diamond Jo Casino in April 2006 in Northwood in Worth County off I-35. It features 900 slots and a 5,000-square-foot events center.
The last of the four to open, in June last year, is the $134 million Isle Casino & Hotel Waterloo, which includes a 194-room hotel and 5,000 square feet of meeting space.
Meanwhile, Peninsula Gaming will unveil its new $75 million Diamond Jo casino at Dubuque’s waterfront this fall. It will boast 1,000 slots, 17 table games, a 36-lane bowling and entertainment center, restaurants, and retail shops. The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium will take over its existing building and riverboat casino.
Across the Missouri River from Omaha, Council Bluffs has two riverboat casinos and a racino (racetrack casino) that make up the nation’s 19th largest casino market, with revenues of $471 million last year.
Horseshoe Council Bluffs, a greyhound track and casino, is near the city’s convention facility, the Mid-America Center. Harrah’s rebranded the former Bluffs Run Casino in 2006 following an $85 million renovation and expansion that included a 500-seat entertainment center.
One mile apart along the riverfront are the 250-room, 1,000-slot Harrah’s Council Bluffs with 21,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 160-room Ameristar Casino & Hotel with a 5,000-square-foot ballroom.
A year ago Harrah’s announced a partnership with Kinseth Hospitality Group to build a 158-room Hilton Garden Inn with 3,000 square feet of meeting space adjacent to the Horseshoe. Ameristar was planning a $100 million casino expansion, but recently announced the project is on hold due to “uncertainty in the credit markets and the current cost of incremental borrowing.”
On the Mississippi in eastern Iowa, Isle of Capri Casino & Hotel Bettendorf opened a 250-room hotel tower in June last year, increasing total rooms to 514. The casino has a 1,000-slot casino and meeting rooms and, in partnership with the city of Bettendorf, will next year open a connected 50,000-square-foot event center.
Also on the Mississippi, at Burlington in southeast Iowa, Catfish Bend Casino in July last year held the grand opening for a new casino that replaces a riverboat. With it came a new 40-suite luxury hotel, a convention and event facility with over 9,000 square feet of space, and dining outlets.
Michigan
Michigan’s only commercial casinos are in Detroit. It has three of them, and they are large enough to make the city the nation’s fifth largest casino market, with revenues topping $1.3 billion last year.
Last year they began to roll out their new permanent casinos each with 400 room hotels—a requirement of their agreement with the city before they opened temporary facilities in 1999 and 2000.
MGM Grand Detroit opened its new $800 million complex on a new site last October. It includes a 400-room hotel tower, a 30,000-square-foot meetings and event center, 100,000 square feet of gaming space, and restaurants and lounges.
MotorCity Casino Hotel began unveiling its $300 million expansion in June last year when it added an additional 25,000-square-foot gaming floor to its 75,000-square-foot casino, which has since undergone renovation and remodeling. It opened a 17-story, 400-room hotel last November.
This year it has added meeting and event space, which includes an 11,890-square-foot ballroom, and will open a 1,200-seat theater later this summer. The expanded facility incorporates the historic Wagner Baking Company building, site of the original casino and which has been restored to its 1915 condition.
Greektown Casino’s $200 million expansion is set to debut this fall. It will include a 30-story, 400-room hotel opening in November, gaming space increased to 100,000 square feet and 25,000 square feet of conference space.
Across the Detroit River in Ontario, Casino Windsor was rebranded Caesars Windsor during a gala opening June 19 following a massive expansion. Added were a 369-room tower to the existing 400 rooms, 100,000 square feet of new meeting and convention space and a 5,000-seat theater.
Michigan has almost 20 Indian casinos, almost all in the north.
Southwest Michigan’s first casino competes with the Chicagoland facilities. Opened in August last year in New Buffalo, minutes from Michigan City, is the Four Winds Casino Resort. It has a 165-room hotel, more than 3,000 slots and 100 table games and six restaurants, and is owned by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and managed by Lakes Entertainment.
The Hannahville Indian Community’s Island Resort & Casino near Escana opens the 18-hole Sweetgrass Golf Club in July, completing a $43 million expansion.
Last summer, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians opened the 81-room Kewadin Shores Casino & Hotel in St. Ignace. It includes 30,000 square feet of entertainment space and a 25,000-square-foot casino.
Near Traverse City, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians opened its new Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel in Williamsburg, replacing its existing casino. Features include a 54,000-square-foot gaming floor, a 137-room hotel and 4,500 square feet of meeting space. The property is 10 miles from the tribe’s 660-room Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, which has 54 holes of golf and 85,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe opened the Saganing Eagles Landing Casino in Standing in January and is building an 80-room hotel. The tribe also operates one the Midwest’s largest gaming facilities—the 4,700-slot, 512-room Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant with 70,000 square feet of function space.
Minnesota
The Land of 10,000 Lakes has more than 30 Indian gaming facilities, about one-third of them with meeting space.
With Tim McGraw performing, Southern Minnesota’s 2,500-slot Treasure Island Resort & Casino has scheduled the grand opening of its $50 million expansion for Aug. 30. The Prairie Island Indian Community will unveil a new 30,000-square-foot event and convention center, 230 additional hotel rooms bringing the room count to 480, a family center, and bowling alley.
In Carlton, 20 minutes from Duluth, the Fon Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in a $120 million project added a 250-room hotel tower to their Black Bear Casino early this year and a new 83,000-square-foot casino in late May.
Wisconsin
Following two years of construction, the Potawatomi Bingo Casino near downtown Milwaukee opened its $240 million expansion on June 19. The 500,000-square-foot addition triples the size of the gaming floor and adds two new restaurants.
