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Two more submit proposals for WyCo casino
Message was posted: 05:48 Dec 31st, 2007

User: Sandcastles Rank: Casino Gold: 15110CG Contributor rating: 81480 Status: Offline

Hours before the year-end deadline, the Kansas Lottery Commission received two more bids for a casino in Wyandotte County. A total of five proposals have been submitted for the casino. One of the proposals submitted Monday, a $770 million proposal by Kansas City-based RED Development LLC, Connecticut-based Mohegan Sun and Las Vegas-based Olympia Gaming LLC, had been endorsed by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan. The other proposal submitted Monday was by Las Vegas Sands Corp., whose $500 million proposal the Unified Government did not endorse because of its location. A spokeswoman for the Kansas Lottery Commission said they had just received the proposals and didn't have further details about any changes to the plans or how lack of local endorsement would impact proposals. Hal Walker, the Unified Government's chief counsel, said local officials were very surprised when they found out about the Sands application Monday. "We will be reviewing the application that's filed in Topeka," Walker said. "We had set up a process which we thought was very fair to all parties, very open and transparent. I don't know how the Unified commission will react." Sands still will have to pursue proper planning and zoning, he said. The three proposals already submitted to the Kansas Lottery Commission for a state-owned, privately managed casino in Wyandotte County include a $670 million proposal by Kansas Speedway and The Cordish Co.; a $650 million proposal by Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.; and a $600 million proposal by Las Vegas-based Golden Gaming Inc. The Unified Government endorsed the Kansas Speedway/Cordish and Pinnacle proposals; the city of Edwardsville endorsed the Golden Gaming proposal. The Lottery Commission has 90 days to review proposals and negotiate contracts before forwarding the contracts to the new Gaming Facility Review Board, which gets 60 days to choose one for Wyandotte County. The Kansas Expanded Lottery Act allowed for a casino in four locations in the state. Besides Wyandotte County's proposals, the Kansas Lottery Commission received one proposal for the southeast gaming zone, two for the southwest zone and four for the south-central zone. Biz Journals