{"id":63463,"date":"2017-11-17T17:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-11-18T01:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=63463"},"modified":"2017-11-17T14:47:16","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T22:47:16","slug":"iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission Rejects Cedar Rapids Casinos"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission voted 3-2 to reject three proposed casino developments in Cedar Rapids<\/a>, saying that any new gaming venues would be entering a market that is already saturated.<\/p>\n

\"Cedar
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission rejected all three proposed Cedar Rapids casinos by a 3-2 margin. (Image: Little Village Magazine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the regulators called it a difficult decision, and praised the quality of the applications, that wasn\u2019t enough to convince them to authorize a new facility that would join the 19 currently-licensed casinos in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m right now not sure adding a new license will help the state in any way,\u201d said commission member Carl Heinrich. \u201cI don\u2019t think now is the time to change the dynamics of what we are seeing working well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vote Closer Than in 2014<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In many ways, the vote mirrored one that was taken in 2014, when the commission also rejected a proposal to build a new facility in Cedar Rapids<\/a>. In that case, the vote was 4-1 against, with Dolores Mertz casting the only vote in favor of the new casino. This time, Mertz was joined by Chairman Richard Arnold, though that still wasn\u2019t enough to tilt the balance.<\/p>\n

The three different proposals all received the same 3-2 rejection. Two of the projects were based in Cedar Crossing: a $105 million plan to build a facility known as Cedar Crossing Central, and a larger $165 million concept known as Cedar Crossing on the River. The third was a smaller \u201cboutique\u201d casino known as Wild Rose Cedar Rapids, which would have been a $40 million project.<\/p>\n

Opposition to a new development came from existing operators, who said that any new resort would cannibalize revenue from their venues.<\/p>\n

Projections used by the commission suggested that while these projects would generate some new revenue, much of their business would come from gamblers who were currently spending money at other Iowa casinos.<\/p>\n

Mayor Disappointed in Commission\u2019s Decision<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Commission member Kristine Kramer said she had sympathy for Cedar Rapids, as a new casino might help the city continue recovering from the devastating floods that hit the area a decade ago. But she also pointed out that the city had turned down the option to build a casino back in 2003.<\/p>\n

That argument did not sit well with Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be akin to telling a school district that because voters once rejected a bond issue, they shouldn\u2019t be allowed to approve one ever again,\u201d the mayor said.<\/p>\n

Corbett described the commission\u2019s decision as \u201ca big letdown\u201d for his city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a big disappointment for our community,\u201d he said. \u201cA lot of money and a lot of time was spent on the preparation of these applications only to have the same result.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the other hand, existing operators were relieved to learn they wouldn\u2019t be facing new competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was the right decision,\u201d said Dan Kehl, CEO of Elite Casino Resorts (the company which operates the Riverside Casino). \u201cI am glad it is over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Supporters of the projects say they may take another shot of gaining the commission\u2019s approval in 2019 or 2020. At that point, they say, industry conditions may have changed. Perhaps more critically, there will then be new members on the gaming commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission voted 3-2 to reject three proposed casino developments in Cedar Rapids, saying that any new gaming venues would be entering a market that is already saturated. While the regulators called it a difficult decision, and praised the quality of the applications, that wasn\u2019t enough to convince them to authorize […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":63464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIowa Racing and Gaming Commission Rejects Cedar Rapids Casinos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission rejected three Cedar Rapids casino proposals, the second such rejection for the city in three years.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission Rejects Cedar Rapids Casinos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission rejected three Cedar Rapids casino proposals, the second such rejection for the city in three years.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-18T01:00:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-11-17T22:47:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/casino-jsellergren.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1155\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"776\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/\",\"name\":\"Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission Rejects Cedar Rapids Casinos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/casino-jsellergren.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-18T01:00:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-17T22:47:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission rejected three Cedar Rapids casino proposals, the second such rejection for the city in three years.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/iowa-racing-gaming-commission-rejects-cedar-rapids-casinos\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/casino-jsellergren.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/casino-jsellergren.jpg\",\"width\":1155,\"height\":776,\"caption\":\"The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission rejected all three proposed Cedar Rapids casinos by a 3-2 margin. 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