Casino news from http://www.detnews.com/
DETROIT -- The building of three permanent casinos in Detroit is almost single-handedly pulling the region's construction industry out of a four-year slump and providing jobs for thousands of workers.
An estimated 3,200 construction jobs that could last for up to two years will be created as the MGM Grand Detroit Casino, MotorCity Casino and soon the Greektown Casino set up their permanent sites -- each with 100,000 square feet of gambling space, 400-room hotels, massive parking structures, convention areas, restaurants and, in some cases, luxury spas.
"Nothing is better than a big-city project," said Mike Davis, executive president of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, which represents 23,000 journeyman carpenters, millwrights and apprentices.
7,100 jobs lost
It's been a rough road for construction trades workers in the past few years. In Metro Detroit, 7,100 of them who work on big commercial projects have lost their jobs since 2001, according to the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth.
For the past two years, the number of hours worked by the rank-and-file members in Davis' union dropped by 1 million hours to 10 million a year.
With fewer hours, many construction workers have seen their annual incomes drop by about half -- to as low as $25,000.
Work on the MGM Grand and MotorCity complexes began last year and is expected to wrap up by late 2007.
The Greektown project awaits resolution of Detroit zoning issues before it can begin. It's expected to be completed in 2008.
The three casinos have been using temporary smaller facilities since state voters in 1996 approved the idea of casinos in Detroit.
"The future is looking pretty good," Davis said, comparing this construction boom to the late '90s and early part of this decade. That's when Comerica Park, Ford Field, the Compuware headquarters and General Motors Corp.'s Wintergarden at the Renaissance Center were being built.
'It's been real rough'
Dave Taormina, a commercial carpenter for 25 years, is benefiting from the latest bounce. The 43-year-old Detroit resident expects to return to work today.
"After we finished the Compuware headquarters (in 2003), it's been real tough," Taormina said. "I've been living off savings. A lot of people I know have been scrambling for work."
He's been filling his time doing small jobs for free, like rebuilding gutters at a friend's house last week.
"Now the work is coming hard and fast," Taormina said.
The $180 million renovation of the historic Book-Cadillac Hotel and numerous small loft and retail projects downtown are adding to the surge of construction work.
The construction jobs are a welcome addition to the ailing Michigan employment scene. The state has lost 27,000 jobs since January, and hundreds continue to flee because of lack of work. The state's jobless rate of 6 percent in May is among the highest in the nation.
Much of the state's struggles are tied to those of Detroit's automakers. GM lost $10.6 billion last year.
Building blitz continues
And yet the money and enthusiasm keep building in downtown Detroit, which received a heap of national attention during February's Super Bowl XL.
The glitzy new casinos join billions of dollars in public and private investments that have been poured into downtown over the past 10 years, bringing new life to long-empty buildings and filling the city's blighted core with lofts, restaurants, martini bars and small retail shops.
Carpenter Taormina said he hopes he can keep pace.
"The demand is high. I don't know if we will even have enough men."
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