Developers detail plans for Baltimore casino
BALTIMORE — Developers outlined plans Wednesday for a $212 million slot machine parlor near the sports stadiums in south Baltimore that they say would generate $500 million in revenue in 2011, its first year of operation.
Members of the Baltimore City Entertainment Group presented their plans for what they’ve dubbed the Celebration Casino to a state commission in charge of granting slots licenses.
So far, BCEG has only applied for a license to operate 500 slot machines. But the group has gained control of a larger and more visible parcel of land since submitting that application and now plans to ask the commission to install 3,750 machines, the maximum allowed in Baltimore under state law.
“It will be a unique, energetic gaming experience,” BCEG President Michael Moldenhauer told the commission. “This will truly prove to be Baltimore’s place to play.”
The group hopes to break ground on the casino this year and open it by early 2011. Of the $500 million BCEG believes the facility will clear that year, $330 million would go to the state in gaming taxes, and $15 million would go to the city, where Mayor Sheila Dixon hopes to use the revenue to lower property taxes.
Moldenhauer estimated that the casino would bring in $430 million annually to the state and $19.5 million to the city by 2015. It would create more than 2,300 construction jobs and more than 900 full-time jobs upon completion, he said.
Other developers have criticized BCEG for acquiring the more attractive land parcel after submitting its initial bid, saying they might have bid for Baltimore’s license if they had known that land was available. The site is along Russell Street, a major gateway to the city, and is just south of M&T Bank Stadium, home to the Baltimore Ravens.
But Moldenhauer said BCEG entered negotiations with the developers who previously controlled the land before submitting its bid and that other developers knew then about the parcel’s potential as a casino site.
“This was clearly a fair and transparent process,” Moldenhauer said.
The Maryland Attorney General’s office has determined that the Video Lottery Facility Location Commission has “broad discretion to consider changes in plans” from slots license applicants, commission chairman Donald C. Fry said after the meeting.
But Fry noted that BCEG has not yet formally submitted plans for the larger casino or paid the additional $19.5 million licensing fee that would be required to operate that many machines. The group paid a $3 million licensing fee when it submitted its initial bid and plans to pay the larger fee next month.
The commission took comments from the public after BCEG’s presentation. Only four people spoke, and none objected to the substance of the casino plan. Two were critical of the commission for scheduling meetings too early in the day for many people to attend.