Las Vegas Sands Questions Fresen Casino Bill -Scrambling for Advantage on Ways to Gouge the Public Till
TAMPA BAY TIMES JANUARY 23, 2012
Promoter of casino bill getting uneasy about proposed changes
The effort to find a politically palatable compromise that will get a destination resort casino bill through the House may have found its first casualty: Las Vegas Sands.
The Las Vegas casino giant, which was the first to bring the concept of a “destination resort” casino and convention center to Florida two years ago, says it would have a hard time supporting the bill if the amendments by sponsor Rep. Erik Fresen , R-Miami, get on the bill.
“My client, the Las Vegas Sands, has some concerns about the amendments that would make [the bill] less appealing,” said Nick Iarossi, lobbyist for Sands.
Iarossi told the Herald/Times that specifically the idea of using tax revenues generated by the casino industry to buy back pari-mutuel permits for low performing horse and dog track and jai alai frontons is “causing some discomfort.”
“The state has the ability to spend the money as it sees fit,” Iarossi said, but using the revenues generated by the casinos to pay pari-mutuels “raises some policy flags for my client.”
Meanwhile, Sands stands by its argument that three mega casinos in South Florida, as proposed in both Fresen’s bill and the Senate companion bill, “are too many,” he said. “We probably wouldn’t build if there are three in South Florida.”
Sands was the first to pitch the notion of a convention-based mega resort in Florida that would include a resort casino as part of it footprint but it was only when the Genting Group, the Maylasian-based casino and resort company, invested nearly $500 million in real estate purchases in Miami that the bills started moving.
“For over two years we’ve pitched the benefits of a destination resort and the jobs it creates. Now it’s up to the Legislature to authorize that concept or not,” Iarossi said.
The Senate version of the bill by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The House is expected to hear Fresen’s bill, and his proposed amendments to it, at the Business and Consumer Affairs Committee next week.
Among the opponents to the destination resort legislation have been several Central Florida lawmakers on the House committee who have said they will support the measure only if it bring a net reducton in gambling. Under Fresen’s proposal, parimutuels could petition to have their permits bought back by the state. That could include the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club, and the Orlando Jai Alai in Seminole County, which closed in 2009.
Sands wants to see the bill continue to make progress, Iarossi said, and “certainly won’t oppose it,” if the changes are enacted because they believe “this bill is going to change a lot if it is going to pass.”
Unused Stadia as Homes for the Homeless? Gee Apparently its state law. Who knew?
Old Florida Law Says Sun Life Stadium, American Airlines Arena Should Be Homeless Shelters
By Kyle Munzenrieder Mon., Jan. 23 2012 at 2:56 PM Comments (1)
Twenty years ago, the state government passed a law that sounded good on a very simple, surface level: all sports facilities that receive public funding must be used as homeless shelters when not in use. Of course, since the law went into effect not a single arena or stadium in the state has been used as a homeless shelter. Now, two Republican lawmakers have filed a bill that would require stadiums and arenas to return state money for not complying with the obscure law.
“These organizations have failed to follow the law for over 20 years,” said Rep. Frank Artiles (R-Miami), in a statement. “This is the simply the State of Florida holding them accountable.”
Artiles is sponsoring the bill in the House, while Sen. Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton) has introduced the bill in the Senate.
Sun Life Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins and, until recently, the Florida Marlins, has received more than $37 million from the State since 1994, more than any other facility. Almost $31 million has been given to Broward’s Bank Atlantic Center, home of the Florida Panthers, since construction begin in 1996. American Airlines Arena has collected $27.5 million since 1998.
“We have spent over $300 million supporting teams that can afford to pay a guy $7, 8, 10 million a year to throw a baseball 90 feet. I think they can pay for their own stadium,” Bennett tells The Miami Herald. “I can not believe that we’re going to cut money out of Medicaid and take it away from the homeless and take it away from the poor and impoverished, and we’re continuing to support people who are billionaires.”
For a moment of pure hypocritical bliss, just take the last part of Bennett’s quote out of context and imagine he was saying it while talking about other Republican pet peeves, like say the Bush tax cuts and Rick Scott’s plan to eliminate corporate income tax or something.
The law seemed like it was designed to be ignored in the first place, and really its no surprise it has been for so long. Perhaps Bennett and Artiles would be better off enacting legislation that would limit government funding of sports arenas in the future rather than trying to collect money given out years ago.
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Herald Poll- Opposition to Casinos Growing- Work Still Needs to go on. Lobby your legislators!
Poll: Miami-Dade voters evenly split on casinos, but opposition growing
After months of debate, Miami-Dade voters don’t clearly support or oppose large-scale casinos, are worried about the local economy and oppose re-naming the Miami Art Museum for a generous donor.
Related Content
Poll: Miami-Dade charter amendments face uphill climb from divided electorate
BY SCOTT HIAASEN AND PATRICIA MAZZEI
SHIAASEN@MIAMIHERALD.COM
Miami-Dade voters are evenly divided on whether to allow casino gambling in South Florida, but opposition appears to be growing even as the Legislature debates competing plans to open the region to Las Vegas-style casino resorts, according to a new poll.
In a survey of 400 registered voters in Miami-Dade, voters split almost equally over the idea of large-scale casinos. The electorate is similarly divided over putting a destination resort and casino in downtown Miami on The Miami Herald’s waterfront property.
Pollster Bendixen & Amandi International conducted the poll Tuesday through Thursday for The Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, WFOR-CBS 4 and Univisión 23 to gauge voters’ attitudes about casino gambling and other local issues. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
On gambling “the vote in the electorate is still very much split,” said Fernand Amandi, the firm’s managing partner.
Forty-four percent of respondents said they supported the concept of Las Vegas-style resorts, while 46 percent said they opposed it — a narrow difference within the poll’s margin of error. Ten percent did not answer or offered no opinion.
The poll also asked about specific plans for a $3.8 billion casino resort on Biscayne Bay proposed by Genting, a Malaysian casino company that bought The Herald property last year. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they supported the plan, and 45 percent said they were opposed — again within the margin of error — with 9 percent offering no opinion.
The voters’ attitudes toward Genting’s proposal remained largely unchanged even after hearing arguments for and against the project, the survey found. The poll is the first to publicly gauge voter sentiment about the Genting proposal.
The poll appears to reflect an increase in opposition to casinos in recent months: Just seven months ago, a Miami Herald survey of likely voters found only 38 percent opposed casino gambling in Miami and Miami Beach, with 50 percent supporting casinos and 12 percent saying they had no opinion.
Since that time, several civic and business leaders have spoken out publicly against Genting’s Miami project, which, as currently drawn, would be larger than any resort in Las Vegas. A second casino operator, Las Vegas Sands, is also exploring a casino, hotel and convention center downtown, and a third, MGM Resorts International, has also expressed interest.
In Tallahassee, lawmakers are considering differing proposals that would expand gambling by allowing a handful of casinos at mega-resorts costing at least $2 billion. Bills in the Senate and the House of Representatives would require local voters to approve any casinos by referendum.
Genting officials said they are confident that voters will accept casino gambling as they learn more about it.
“The bottom line is that the proposed legislation gives voters the last word on destination resorts. Those opposing the legislation want to deny local residents their right to make their voices heard on this issue,” said Jessica Hoppe, an executive with Genting subsidiary Resorts World Miami in a statement to The Herald.
Opponents of casinos worry about crime and a deteriorating quality of life: 39 percent of those polled who oppose casinos said they believe gambling will harm the community, and 22 percent said they worried casinos will attract more crime. Another 23 percent of opponents said they opposed gambling on principle.
“I think there’s a lot of bad things that happen when there is gambling in a city,” said Bernardo Lederman of Surfside. “I think all kinds of individuals who are not very honest are going to get most of the money and take it out of here.”
Of those who favor Vegas-style casinos in Florida, 55 percent said they approve because they believe casinos will create more jobs; Genting, for example, has said its Miami resort would bring 19,000 new jobs to the city. Another 24 percent of supporters said they think casino resorts will help the local economy, and 12 percent said they will boost tourism.
“It brings the tourists here. It gives them something to do besides sitting on the beach,” said Barry Haber, a gambling supporter from Kendall. Haber scoffs at the notion that casinos will attract a criminal element: “The bad guys are already here,” he said.
While the poll suggests that casino supporters have more work to do to win over the community, Miami-Dade voters have approved gambling before: Four years ago, they approved a referendum allowing slot machines at local pari-mutuels.
“Miami-Dade residents have repeatedly voiced their support for gaming in the past and are now learning about the positive economic impacts that can derive from destination resorts,” Hoppe said.
A majority of those polled did not believe The Miami Herald building merits protection as an historic structure, as some preservationists have said.
The Herald poll also shows that Miami-Dade voters are increasingly worried about the state of the local economy — and they fear their own finances are going to get worse, not better.
Forty-two percent of those surveyed identified unemployment and the weak economy as the single most important problems facing Miami-Dade County. In a similar Miami Herald poll last May, only 18 percent of the respondents said unemployment was the county’s biggest problem, and six percent cited the weak economy.
Twenty-one percent of those surveyed in the newest poll said corruption in county government was the biggest problem in Miami-Dade.
Only 16 percent said their personal financial situation has improved in the past year, while 40 percent said their financial status remained the same. Forty-two percent said their financial condition was “a little worse” or “a lot worse” than last year.
A majority of respondents, 55 percent, said they believe the economy and job opportunities in the county are getting worse. Among Hispanics, 64 percent believe the county’s economics are getting worse, and 55 percent of African-Americans surveyed are down on the economy.
Twenty-three percent of those surveyed believe that the economy is improving, and 22 percent did not answer or did not have an opinion.
The Herald poll found that few voters paid attention to the controversy over the naming rights of the Miami Art Museum, which will be named for developer Jorge M. Perez in exchange for a $35 million gift of cash and art. Some museum donors and board members objected to changing the name of the museum, which is being built with more than $100 million in public dollars.
Almost two-thirds of those polled said they were not paying close attention to the dispute. But after hearing arguments on both sides of the issue, 54 percent of respondents said re-naming the museum was a “bad idea.”
One issue received almost unanimous consent from those polled: 92 percent of respondents said they supported a legislative proposal to ban texting while driving.
NY’s Bad Bet- And Miami’s- Watch out for Destination Casinos
New York’s Bad Bet
By PAUL DAVIES
Published: January 22, 2012, NY Times
City Room: Cuomo’s Push for Casinos Not Good News for All Gamblers (January 5, 2012)
THE governor of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, is sending his state down the same wrongheaded path as other states that are trying to gamble their way out of economic trouble by legalizing commercial casinos.
The casinos might create jobs and generate revenue for state coffers, but those gains would come at a cost that casino supporters ignore or play down. Various studies, including research by the economist Earl L. Grinols at Baylor University, have shown that casinos produce little to no economic spinoff and in fact divert spending away from surrounding businesses like restaurants, movie theaters and live entertainment. In the worst cases, some problem gamblers spend money that is needed for groceries, rent or child support.
More broadly, casinos are nothing more than a regressive tax that extracts wealth from the very citizens who can least afford it. The details of Governor Cuomo’s plan — which requires changing the State Constitution — remain largely under wraps but will likely follow the blueprints of other states that have allowed casinos at select locations.
While those casinos are billed as “destination resorts,” they are really convenience casinos — typically the size of a big-box retailer — that rely mainly on repeat gamblers who live in the area. Many are located in rural and working-class towns and cities that cater mainly to low rollers, not James Bond-type jet-setters.
A casino in downtown Cleveland is opening this year in a former department store. Steve Wynn wants to build a “low rise” casino in Foxborough, Mass., near a shopping center and the New England Patriots’ football stadium. The Sands opened a casino in Pennsylvania in 2009 on the site of a Bethlehem Steel plant.
Florida, Illinois, Kentucky and Maine are among the states considering similar moves to raise revenue. It is all part of a broader gambling expansion that includes efforts to legalize Internet gambling at the federal level and in several states. New Jersey wants to legalize sports betting.
Thirty years ago, Las Vegas and Atlantic City were the only legal casino destinations in the country. But over the last few decades there has been a steady increase in lottery offerings, riverboat casinos and gambling on Indian reservations. Today, 41 states have some form of casino gambling, and all but 7 have a lottery.
Governor Cuomo is correct that New York — which has a state lottery, casinos on Indian reservations and video lottery terminals at the Aqueduct Racetrack — is already in the gambling business. Many New Yorkers also travel to Atlantic City, Pennsylvania and Connecticut to gamble. But making gambling even more convenient to residents is not the answer to the state’s budget or unemployment woes. Lawmakers are sworn to protect residents, not make it easier for them to lose money.
The economist Paul A. Samuelson described gambling as the “sterile transfer of money or goods between individuals, creating no new money or goods.” Warren E. Buffett called gambling a “tax on ignorance.” Governor Cuomo’s father, Mario, himself a former governor, understood the negative impact. “There is a respectable body of economic thought that holds that casino gambling is actually economically regressive to a state and a community,” he wrote in a 1994 book, “The New York Idea.”
Indeed, studies show that where casinos are established there is often an increase in crime, bankruptcy, divorce and suicide. A study last year by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County found that one in every 30 state residents had a gambling problem. Those most at risk for developing gambling addictions are single men between the ages of 18 and 29, either African-American or Latino, with less education and income than the overall population.
For New Yorkers, opening casinos closer to home would create new gamblers and prompt many residents to gamble more often, especially low rollers who are more likely to get hooked on slot machines. That has been the case in Pennsylvania, which legalized slots in 2004.
At the Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pa., many gamblers come in an average of three to four times a week — or roughly 150 to 200 times a year, David Jonas, the former president and the chief operating officer of the casino, said at a gambling conference in 2010.
Over all, the number of calls to Pennsylvania’s problem gambling help line jumped by 26 percent in the first quarter of last year, according to the Pennsylvania Council on Compulsive Gambling.
New York can expect the same payoff from its bad bet.
Paul Davies, a journalist and a fellow at the Institute for American Values, edits an anti-gambling blog.
Seminole Leader’s Perspective
Protect the Seminole gaming compact
Re the Jan. 12 story Attorney general throws wrench into slot-machine referendums statewide: We would like to say a hearty sho-naa-bish (thank you), to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the strong opinion she delivered on Jan. 12 denying the legality of slot-machine gaming referendums across Florida.
Given the highly charged, complicated atmosphere surrounding destination resort casino legislation now creeping through the Florida Legislature, it is refreshing that one Florida leader has stepped forward to bring a sense of fair play to this ever-growing shadowy situation.
Bondi is correct in her opinion that individual county referendums approving slot machines at existing pari-mutuel facilities violate the Florida Constitution. She has directed the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation not to approve slot-machine licenses based on upcoming votes.
She found that such referenda are valid only if pre-authorized by the Legislature or the state Constitution. Her words brought a strong dose of reality to fast-track gaming interests in two rural Florida counties. They were barely two weeks from conducting the special referenda.
When we first heard about the current legislation to significantly expand gaming in Florida, the Seminole Tribe of Florida stood squarely in support of the gaming compact that the tribe signed with the state of Florida in 2010.
We have called upon Gov. Rick Scott, the Cabinet and the Florida Legislature to protect this agreement, which was signed in good faith, against all attacks on its integrity.
We hope Bondi will stand firm when the arrows start to fly from those who thought they could sneak in under her radar.
The terms of the compact clearly preclude slot machines at facilities outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties and make no provisions for special referenda without legislative approval.
James E. Billie, chairman, Seminole Tribe of Florida, Hollywood
Tony Sanchez Jr., president, Seminole Tribe of Florida, Hollywood
Weak – but mildly helpful- MIami Herald Editorial on Gambling Bill
Slow it down
OUR OPINION: House casino bill beats expansive Senate version
Reconciling Senate and House versions of the casino bill in the Legislature just became harder. Maybe impossible.
The once-matching bills have been amended to ensure the best possible reception in each chamber. Trouble is, the Senate version expands gambling in Florida, while the House bill achieves a better balance. It would scale back existing gaming and seeks to put a lid on future expansion.
In other words, they’re totally different.
Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff’s bill, which survived its first committee vote last week, goes too far. It opens the door to the same full-scale casino games at any pari-mutuel in Miami-Dade and Broward. It also allows them to pay the 10 percent tax rate that would be paid by resort casinos — minus the mandate of a $2 billion investment imposed on new casinos. “I’ve given up saying it’s not an expansion because I’ve lost that battle,” Sen. Bogdanoff conceded.
In the gambling-averse House, though, Rep. Erik Fresen’s version would ban so-called Internet cafes and maquinita parlors that prey on local residents, repeal 17 dormant parimutuel permits and allow a limited number of destination resorts. That at least heads in the right direction. The Legislature needs to study all alternatives, not rush into what’s politically expedient. Gambling needs to be better regulated, not the free-for-all that the Senate bill has become.
Gambling Traffic in Downtown Miami. Hey – Why not pay for more fraudulent traffic studies? Most of Them are done by Shills.
Just Say “No” to Casinos … by gimleteye
Apparently Armando Codina is stepping in a half-hearted way against casinos. According to Miami Today, Codina now takes the public position that a casino in downtown Miami cannot be built by Genting without massive traffic impacts. Codina suggests that Genting should pay for the traffic infrastructure upgrade needed. Heck, Armando: we can’t even complete an off ramp on North Miami Avenue to the Design District. We can’t even figure out how people are going to get to the new Marlins Stadium by car or public transit. Anyone who has read this blog knows our view about the pitiful traffic pattern of downtown Miami, including the insertion of the Performing Arsht Center and the Heat Arena and the new Museum named for Jorge Perez. Yes with failing to plan for traffic, Miami shoots itself in the foot better than any other city in America. But casinos should be rejected in Miami. Period. Watch the video.
Could Gambling Bill Be A Sleeper Issue in the Republican Primary? Here’s the perspective of One Angry Republican writing in Eyeonmiami.blogspot.com
Angry at My Political Party over Gambling Donations. By Geniusofdespair
As a registered Republican — yes again — I am mad that, according to the Miami Herald, my party took in $628,000 from Genting (I would suppose to distribute to candidates without the gambling taint of a direct deposit to the candidates). In fact my Florida Pubs took in $2 million from gaming. Shit! The article also says that Shill Rep. Erik Fresen wants a citizen vote on on gambling. Why not? They will lie about jobs and get the vote they need – they already polled on it.
Well, I did my own research on my old party — since 10/03/2011 those damn State Dems took in almost $100,000 from Genting, $105,000 from the Seminole tribe, $45 from Hartman & Tyner, Inc. — $250,000 total from gambling, so they ain’t no saints either. As an aside, the Dems also took in $45,000 from Florida Crystals. Why is Genting so generous? Because Florida is offering them the most lucrative deal of any of the other U.S. States except Nevada and New Jersey and those deals were forged decades ago. They must be laughing at our dumb Florida politicians for putting together a sweetheart deal for them.
There was a good commentary on gambling downtown in yesterday’s paper by Daniel Shoer Roth. He makes some excellent points:
In no other world-class city are casinos located in the heart of the financial district, except in Las Vegas, which is a city mainly devoted to gambling. Even in Malaysia, where Genting is based, the company’s flagship casino is located 30 miles northeast of Kuala Lumpur on top of a hill.
These downtown casinos not only will occupy the land they have acquired, but they will also invade public spaces.
Shoer Roth contends Genting will have to take over close to 6 acres of city streets, in addition to the 13.9 they own, to make their project happen.
Fresen Bill- Scrambling to Save Casino Gambling? Write your State Representative to say NO EXPANSION OF DESTINATION CASINO GAMBLING !
House casino bill sponsor proposes changes to reduce gambling options
In an effort to win support from the gambling-averse House, Rep. Erik Fresen proposed amendments to a casino bill.
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
The House sponsor of the bill to bring three mega resort casinos to Florida unveiled a series of amendments Wednesday to make the measure more palatable to his conservative, anti-gambling colleagues.
The changes by Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, are designed to “scale back existing gaming and ensure there is no additional gaming,” he said.
But while Fresen’s changes are designed to limit the expansion of gambling in Florida, the state Senate went in the opposite direction last week when it adopted amendments to a similar bill by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff that opens the door to Las Vegas-style slot machines in every horse and dog track and jai-alai fronton in the state, so long as voters approve.
Under Fresen’s proposal, the state would authorize three destination resort casinos and, like the Senate bill, allow them only if voters approve in a countywide referendum. Bogdanoff’s bill, however, would allow for the three resort casinos to operate in any part of the state.
Fresen’s amendments would also permanently ban the so-called Internet Cafes and maquinitas parlors that rely on a loophole in the state’s sweepstakes law to operate slot machine look-alikes — a contrast to Bogdanoff’s bill, which would regulate the games. Another amendment would also prohibit the state from issuing any new parimutuel permits, repeal the 17 dormant parimutuel permits now in existence, and would use the proceeds from the casino taxes to buy back permits from up to four existing parimutuels.
Fresen also proposes an amendment to give the state’s existing parimutuels the same 10 percent tax rate on their slot machine games as the new destination resort casinos, once the resort casinos open.
“The crux of these amendments is to address some of the desires an some of the concerns expressed by members,’’ Fresen said.
The bill sponsors continue to look as if they face an uphill climb to win agreement on the plans this session. House Speaker Dean Cannon has repeatedly said he’s skeptical that the resort casino bill would pass the House, where a majority want to reduce gambling options in Florida.
Fresen said his bill, HB 487, will get its first hearing in the Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee chaired by Rep. Doug Holder, R-Sarasota, within the next two weeks.
While Bogdanoff’s bill has moved through its first Senate committee, Fresen’s nearly identical proposal has remained in limbo in the House despite heavy lobbying by the gaming industry and an influx of more than $2 million in campaign cash into Republican Party of Florida coffers, including $628,000 from the Malaysian-based Genting alone.
“The pace of movement of all bills in the house is much slower than in the Senate,’’ Fresen said.
Does Miami Really Need the Destination Casino Boost for Tourism? Doubts Grow!
CASINO GAMBLING
Casinos want to boost Miami tourism, but does it need the help?
Amid a record year for Miami tourism, casino companies tout their resorts as a big boost for the vacation industry. Does it need the help?
Preslee Rakes, left, her mother Tina Rakes, center, and Brad Cunningham, right, all from Kansas, feed seagulls during a visit to the South Beach area of Miami Beach, Fla. Florida tourism bounced back better than expected in 2011. A year ago, after the oil spill and lingering economic woes, the outlook was bleak. But it wasn’t as bad as everyone thought, and more modest growth is expected in 2012. ALAN DIAZ / AP
BY DOUGLAS HANKS
DHANKS@MIAMIHERALD.COM
Two of the world’s largest casino operators promise major boosts to tourism if they can open resorts in downtown Miami. But how much help does the vacation industry need?
Hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses in Miami-Dade now employ more people than they did before the recession. Among the country’s top hotel markets, only Nashville and San Francisco saw a bigger boost in revenue from hotel rooms than in Miami-Dade, where the measure is up 14 percent this year.
Hotel taxes in Miami-Dade surged 29 percent in the latest report, despite a strong showing in 2010. In fact, taxes charged to hotel guests have more than erased losses in the recession and are back to record levels.
“We don’t need the help,” said Bruce Turkel, whose Coconut Grove advertising firm has represented the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau for nearly 20 years. “On the other hand, if [the introduction of casino resorts] is managed well, it could help us.”
His comments capture the complex equation under consideration as South Florida considers adding mega-casinos to its tourism arsenal. The vacation industry is enjoying some of its best days by many measures, yet the economy needs a significant boost to leave the recession behind. Casino resorts say they can build on Miami’s tourism appeal, particularly among conventioneers, but critics see mixed messages.
They point to Miami’s strong popularity with tourists and warn that expanded gambling could spoil the city’s image as a chic playground.
And they see the size of the proposed resorts — enough to double downtown’s current hotel inventory — as swamping an otherwise-healthy industry. With casinos able to rely on gambling profits instead of hotel revenue, some predict the resorts would bring down rates across the area.
“If you are in the gaming business and the rooms business, the gaming business wins and you give the rooms away,’’ said Michael Depatie, CEO of Kimpton Hotels, which runs the 411-room Epic hotel about 10 blocks from the proposed Sands site. “That is a threat to any hotel.”
With unemployment near record levels and South Florida down nearly 180,000 jobs since the housing bust, casinos can make a strong economic argument regardless of the status of tourism.
A bill under consideration by the Florida Legislature would allow casino resorts provided they cost $2 billion to develop — enough of a budget to create thousands of construction jobs in a region that has lost almost half of its building industry. Genting Group, the Malaysian company that has already bought $500 million worth of land along the Miami waterfront, promises to open up South Florida to the coveted Asian market through its popular casino resorts in Singapore and Malaysia.
Some experts also see lavish casino resorts as a way for Miami to stay competitive, as more destinations around the country and the globe pursue their own gambling projects.
Casino resorts are “probably the one element of the visitor experience that’s missing in Miami right now,” said Peter Yesawich, an Orlando-based tourism marketing veteran who is now vice chairman of MMGY Global.
Plans for Miami floated by Genting and the Las Vegas Sands Corp. would arguably deliver a top goal of the tourism industry: a modern convention center and adjoining headquarters hotel. This week, Miami Beach invited private developers to compete for a plan to build a hotel next to the city’s convention center as part of a major rehab of the facility, which tourism leaders have pursued since the late 1990s.
Walt Disney World is funding much of the opposition to the casino bill, with its advocates warning more gambling would tarnish Florida’s appeal as a family vacation spot. But supporters of the casino industry say Miami’s potential as a convention powerhouse could be the main motivator.
“You add gaming in with everything else, you’ve got the No. 1 convention destination,’’ said Glenn Schaeffer, a former Mandalay Bay president in Vegas who briefly worked for the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. “Orlando would have to up its game.”
Broward’s tourism industry hasn’t rebounded as strongly as in Miami-Dade, where a steady stream of foreign tourists bolstered bookings throughout the downturn. Casino companies are also shopping potential Broward sites, though industry insiders say Miami is the No. 1 choice for a casino resort given its global appeal.
Genting estimates its 5,200-room Resorts World Miami would employ 19,000 people. That would make it Miami-Dade’s largest private employer. Under current conditions, that many jobs would shrink the county’s unemployment rate from 10.2 percent to 8.8 percent.
With 30 acres and six towers modeled after a coral reef, Resorts World Miami would be grand enough to become a destination unto itself, Genting contends. Executives pointed to a similar Genting resort in Singapore, saying it helped boost tourism in the country by 40 percent. A top target would be Latin American gamblers who switch planes in Miami on their way to Vegas.
Genting’s plan calls for a sprawling 200,000-square-foot meeting space on an upper floor of its resort. Sands said it would create an exhibit hall with as much as one million square feet of space. — about twice the size of the Miami Beach expo. Sands, which runs one of the top convention centers in Vegas, claims it can bring the kind of large-scale meetings and trade shows that have mostly eluded Miami Beach and its 1957 convention center.
“There are lot of cities that are a lot less appealing than Miami that do better with conventions and trade shows,’’ said Andy Abboud, vice president of government relations for Sands. With fewer than 2,000 rooms, a Sands downtown resort would not be large enough to accommodate the thousands of attendees for major shows, so local hotels will benefit, he said. “We don’t want to build it all.’’
A downtown convention center may be successful enough to leave Miami Beach wondering if it needs one too. A Sands facility large enough to house the Miami International Boat Show and other massive events, would be a significant threat, said Stuart Blumberg, a co-chair of an advisory panel for the Miami Beach Convention Center. “The Sands model would really build up the downtown hoteliers,’’ he said. “It puts the Beach [center] out of business.”
Norman Braman on Gambling
