Baltimore: a Celebration Casino

Well, at least that's the name of the planned casino by the Baltimore City Entertainment Group (BCEG).  Here's some details from BCEG's proposal, up for consideration by the location commission with a decision due this Fall (also pending the financial investigation).  Some highlights, learned from yesterday's public presentation:

• BCEG has already done a lot of planning work with various city agencies: traffic, police, planning, etc.
• BCEG plans a mid-2011 opening
• the Baltimore Development Corp. (BDC) is firmly behind the proposal & supports the switch in venue
• according to BDC, BCEG controlled the rights to various properties in the casino development region from the get go
• the casino will be called "Celebration" and have a Baltimore theme: history, architecture, tourism, etc.
• the 90,000 square foot casino will have 3,750 VLTs and BCEG is planning to submit the remainder of the application fee
• a shuttle bus service to/from downtown Baltimore hotels
• the plan includes a five-level parking garage across the street (Warren St)
• it will have four restaurants and be visible from both M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens) & Oriole Park (Camden Yards)
• traffic is a concern - BCEG is wroking to make sure traffic will flow easily around
• the facility will create 926 direct FTEs, 2,332 construction jobs and approximately 6,292 multiplier-effect (indirect) jobs
• projected revenues @$500 million in 2011 to @$650 million in 2015
• any potential chemical contamination on the site -- formerly Maryland Chemicals- should be alleviated with remediation, inclulding a vapor barrier under the foundation

Yesterday's site visit & hearing was relatively smooth: again no public opposition to the project (like Cecil Cty. & Worcester).  The commission was very open and relatively friendly to all presenters, in some contrast to Penn National's hearing of Aug. 13, which had some contentious moments over the outstanding application fee.  Some commissioners did raise some good questions over the somewhat rosy revenue projections & there will be follow-up on this with the commission's consultant and BCEG's analysts who developed the numbers.

A focal point of the concern has to do with potential competition with Arundel Mills -  I'm wondering if the revenue projections assumed a Laurel racino, thus reducing head-to-head competition between the two properties?  Arundel Mills Mall is closer and much more familiar to more Baltimore-area slots players than is Laurel racetrack.

Yet, there are still real questions here, with both Cordish and Laurel people expressing a viewpoint that bidding was unfair because of the site switch.  Legal action is still a possibility -- so like Cordish's Arundel Mills proposal, there's still a real chance of delays here, beyond the normal approval process.