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Leaders say proposed Cedar Rapids casino would bring $80 million to Iowa

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Leaders say proposed Cedar Rapids casino would bring $80 million to Iowa

Sep 16, 2024 | 6:36 pm ET
By Robin Opsahl
Leaders say proposed Cedar Rapids casino would bring $80 million to Iowa
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Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell took questions from reporters at the site of the proposed Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center on Cedar Rapids' northwest side announced Sept. 16, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

CEDAR RAPIDS — As businesses, organizations and city officials announced new details about the proposed $275 million casino in northwest Cedar Rapids, leaders said a new study shows the casino would bring $80.2 million in new revenue to Iowa.

At a press conference in Cedar Rapids Monday, the company Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) and the Linn County Gaming Association showcased plans for Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center. The building is planned for a piece of land that was impacted by floods and has been undeveloped since 2017, when the restaurant and hotel Cooper’s Mill was demolished.

Local leaders touted plans for opening several restaurants, hosting an 1,500-capacity entertainment venue alongside a STEM lab and arts and cultural center within the facility alongside gambling areas.

However, there is still uncertainty about whether the project can move forward. The Linn County Gaming Association and P2E submitted their application for a gaming license to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission in August. The commission plans to vote on the proposal Feb. 6, 2025.

Kirsten Running-Marquardt, the Linn County Board of Supervisors chair, said Linn County residents have “overwhelmingly” passed gaming referendums in 2013 and 2021, showing that the Cedar Rapids community desires a casino in their area. She said residents, businesses and local leaders are excited for the chance to gain approval from the state to move forward.

“We are only looking for a fair chance, a fair shot, from the Racing and Gaming Commission, from the Legislature and from the governor,” Running-Marquardt said.

The state commission previously denied two attempts to bring a casino to Cedar Rapids in 2014 and 2017. The commission cited market studies that indicated a Cedar Rapids casino would take away profits from casinos in Waterloo, Riverside and Dubuque rather than bring in new revenues as a reason for turning down the proposal.

However, speakers at the news conference Monday said their study showed Cedar Crossing would bring in $80.2 million in new revenue to the state — an increase from a 2021 market study that found a Cedar Rapids casino would create $51 million in new taxable revenue.

Jonathan Swain, the president of P2E, said that in addition to having a lesser impact on other casinos, there has been an increase in gaming revenues since the pandemic that will offset impacts on other casinos.

“Now is the time,” Swain said. “Why? Many things have changed since the last time we brought an application before the Racing and Gaming Commission in 2017. The landscape is different.”

After being denied in 2017, state lawmakers passed a two-year moratorium on new gaming licenses in 2022 that expired July 1. State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, said in July he plans to introduce a new casino moratorium bill in 2025, after the amendment he introduced to extend the moratorium failed in the final hours of the 2024 legislative session.

The study, conducted by Convergence Strategy Group on commission by P2E, found there would be a $27.8 million impact on existing casinos in the state, with a 11.6% impact on Riverside Casino’s projected revenues, a 5.8% impact on Isle Casino Waterloo and 3.6% on Isle Casino Dubuque.

The state will conduct its own market study that will be due at the end of December, Swain said.

“They’re gonna have a different opinion, they’ve always had somewhat different numbers,” he said. “But what I think bears an important consideration here is that the amount of gaming revenue today, versus the last time this was considered and not granted, is considerably larger.”

Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said she is hopeful that the commission may have a different opinion on opening a casino in Cedar Rapids due to rising gaming revenues statewide — “the pie is a lot bigger, and it certainly allows for more competition,” she said. O’Donnell also emphasized that this is a project that local residents have repeatedly voted in favor of, and called for state leaders to allow them to move forward within Iowa regulations.

“We’re not asking for any special privileges,” O’Donnell said. “We know that there is a process, and we are absolutely here to be a part of every step of the process that others have had to go through. No special favors, just a fair shot.”