KCRag Forum

Speedway, partner unveil Kansas City casino proposal

International Speedway Corp. and its partner revealed details Wednesday of their proposal for a $385 million casino adjoining Kansas International Speedway in Kansas City.

The proposal by Kansas Entertainment LLC -- which is ISC and The Cordish Cos. -- is one of two under consideration by the Kansas Lottery Commission for one of two casinos to be awarded this year.

The competing proposal comes from Penn Hollywood Kansas Inc., a subsidiary of Penn National Gaming of Wyomissing, Pa.

Both companies hope to win the right to build a casino, with a hotel, entertainment and convention facilities, restaurants and retail outlets along Interstate 435.

The lotto commission has signed off on the terms of both the racetrack and schlitterbahn casinos - now another board has 60 days to decide which gets approved. 

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking ... 92581.html

Speedway, Penn National come together on single WyCo casino plan

Two competitors vying to build a Wyandotte County casino have teamed up and are now backing a single proposal.

The Kansas Speedway and Penn National Gaming have agreed to cooperate on plans for a state-controlled casino, company officials said Thursday. Penn National replaces the Cordish Company, which had partnered on the deal with the Speedway.

The casino would be built next to the speedway.

Personally, I'm no fan of the Cordish organization and am a little glad they are no longer associated with the casino.  HOWEVER, I think the Hard Rock brand would have brought more visibility (is that the word I'm looking for?) than Penn's Hollywood casino will.  Then again, what Penn has done with the Argosy is top notch.

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/20651

The Commission has apparently approved the plan for the Casino on Turn 2 of the race track. 

Wow,  I don't think this could have possibly turned out to be more of a dud than this.  It will take a decade for this project to equal Argosy, let alone Ameristar, Harrahs or some of the previous proposals that were to go there such as Hard Rock and and Pinnacle.

This is seriously boring.  May as well not build anything and wait a year or two and build something cool.  A small, shity casino with no hotel slapped onto the side of the speedway?  Nice.

Kind of like an overpriced, half built waterpark in the middle of a gigantic mud pit in the middle of Kansas.

Any thoughts on what the next big thing (soccer stadium complex) will end up looking like?

I know what KCMO should do.  Erect a sign at the Bannister Mall site that says you can thank Kansas STAR bonds for this .

GRID wrote: This is seriously boring.  May as well not build anything and wait a year or two and build something cool.  A small, shity casino with no hotel slapped onto the side of the speedway?  Nice.

23,000 sq ft?  Did I read that right?

Apparently they missed the Report Entitled "Darkness Surrounds Empty WyCO Racetrack 356 Days a Year".


..Might as well build it in a cornfield, the density would probably be higher anyways.

Yea, developments everywhere are being scaled back, no surprise here.

GRID wrote: Wow,  I don't think this could have possibly turned out to be more of a dud than this.  It will take a decade for this project to equal Argosy, let alone Ameristar, Harrahs or some of the previous proposals that were to go there such as Hard Rock and and Pinnacle.

This is seriously boring.  May as well not build anything and wait a year or two and build something cool.  A small, shity casino with no hotel slapped onto the side of the speedway?  Nice.

Kind of like an overpriced, half built waterpark in the middle of a gigantic mud pit in the middle of Kansas.

Any thoughts on what the next big thing (soccer stadium complex) will end up looking like?

I know what KCMO should do.  Erect a sign at the Bannister Mall site that says you can thank Kansas STAR bonds for this .

COSIGN. exactly what i was thinking. why are they doing this?

this project represented an opportunity to do something that could've brought destination visits from 2 states away...now it's literally just another casino off the side of the turnpike. at least kc/mo won't have to worry about Cordish programming the casino above P+L.

No matter how shitty this place will be I'm just glad it's finally approved.  I'm tired of the Kansas City media covering this project.  Is our town this hard up for news and something exciting to talk about regarding gambling on the Kansas side?  Grid, regarding the soccer complex and Cerner development I would expect a major turn of events in 2010.  The state of Kansas is in dire straits when it comes to revenue.  The freeloaders taking advantage of the state o Kansas days are coming to an end. 

KCMax wrote: Yea, developments everywhere are being scaled back, no surprise here.

Then they (Wyco) should quit trumping around the states capitol stating that this is a "Destination" level casino being proposed.


28,000 sq ft
2,000 slot machines
and NO hotel.


Lamo

Isn't a Wal-Mart about 5 times that big. I wonder if they're worried about taking people away from the downtown KCK bingo hall.

reading comprehension is a lost skill....

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/20651

The 28,000 space is for entertainment and dining.... restaunts and bars... not gaming space.

Per Argosy's own website, they have 1762 slots and 40 table games that take up 62,000 sq. ft.

The new casino will have 30% more slots (2300) and 115% more tables (86) so you are looking at at least 100,000 square foot casino.

By comparison, Ameristar has 2900 slots and 60 table games...

So you are looking at a casino floor by itself that is as big as anything in Kansas City and with the most table games...

So it won't have a hotel but they will have to start building one in 2 years (which is faster than any of the existing casinos added hotels....

The hate / bias against anything to do with Legends / Village West is staggering...

im2kull wrote: Then they (Wyco) should quit trumping around the states capitol stating that this is a "Destination" level casino being proposed.


28,000 sq ft
2,000 slot machines
and NO hotel.


Lamo

AND unlike any of the MO casinos this one is in an area with already existing hotels, bars, restaurants, etc. so it doesn't need to be self sufficient like the others... In fact one could say that the new one is actually "infill" whereas the MO casinos are spread out and isolated...

rokhok wrote: The hate / bias against anything to do with Legends / Village West is staggering...

I don't hate VW, if anything I like their little community amongst the barren fields.  I dont see how the WYCO (Note to self: Wyco is NOT VW) reps can trump around the states capitol beating their chests about how much of a "Destination" the Casino on T2 of the speedway is going to be.  If it were tied into Schlitterbahn like it was in all those fancy renderings a few years back, or wasn't surrounded by empty, grassy, surface lots...then perhaps I'd buy that argument, but untill then...not a chance.  You want to talk Destination casinos, then lets talk Vegas, and Atlantic City, or even Macau...but please, let's leave out the rest.  How you determined that i hate VW from that statement alone is beyond my comprehension.  If anything my problem resides with Wyco itself, I'll leave it at that.

rokhok wrote: AND unlike any of the MO casinos this one is in an area with already existing hotels, bars, restaurants, etc. so it doesn't need to be self sufficient like the others... In fact one could say that the new one is actually "infill" whereas the MO casinos are spread out and isolated...

Thanks for correcting the original information rokhok, as far as space goes.  Its nice to know that it won't be quite as small as I was envisioning.  Now here's my real problem with this statement of yours:

1. I seriously doubt that this casino will really be as much "infill" as you imagine.  Its quite the stone throw from the track to the other businesss within the Legends...to say the least.  Not to mention that Nascar needs all the green space it can get around that track for parking, so I highly doubt we'll see much of a change in the land between the casino and VW.  If anything it will end up on its own little island of development, attached at the hip to the track..thus negating any difference between it & say the Flamingo Casino, or Argosy (As far as infill go).

2. They don't "Have" to build a Hotel, in the end its still their choice.  Sure, to keep their tax breaks they do (within 2 years)...BUT...if the project is a complete flop they might just let it fail, and lose their additional tax credits rather than wasting more money to build a hotel.  I'm not saying that this is going to happen, nor do I want it to...but It certaintly could happen.  How many developments do we see proposed, passed, and constructed only to be cut short and radically changed by the time their "Finished"?

One item that strikes me about this project is that the developers can pay for the project themselves if they want to instead of borrowing money.  And throw in a second NASCAR race weekend this should be a plus for WyCo and the whole KC area.  Yes, it will spread the gaming money around some but at the same time it should grow the market also.

Although I am not a customer of Argosy I have friends who are.  And if this proposed casino is anything like the Argosy it should definitely be a plus for the area.

rokhok wrote: AND unlike any of the MO casinos this one is in an area with already existing hotels, bars, restaurants, etc. so it doesn't need to be self sufficient like the others... In fact one could say that the new one is actually "infill" whereas the MO casinos are spread out and isolated...

yeah that's infill.  Yikes.

aknowledgeableperson wrote: ..it should definitely be a plus for the area.

I agree that it could be a plus for the area, I just wonder how big of one.  It's quite a ways out to go toss away some money, for most kansas citians. 

rokhok wrote: reading comprehension is a lost skill....

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/20651

The 28,000 space is for entertainment and dining.... restaunts and bars... not gaming space.

Per Argosy's own website, they have 1762 slots and 40 table games that take up 62,000 sq. ft.

The new casino will have 30% more slots (2300) and 115% more tables (86) so you are looking at at least 100,000 square foot casino.

By comparison, Ameristar has 2900 slots and 60 table games...

So you are looking at a casino floor by itself that is as big as anything in Kansas City and with the most table games...

So it won't have a hotel but they will have to start building one in 2 years (which is faster than any of the existing casinos added hotels....

The hate / bias against anything to do with Legends / Village West is staggering...

I thought the same thing, good job.

im2kull wrote: It's quite a ways out to go toss away some money, for most kansas citians. 

Far better for chumps from outside the metro to toss away their money here than chumps from inside.  Hopefully this location will draw chumps from further afield.