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Campbell Foresees Benefit From Planned Entertainment Complex

Posted on March 30th, 2010

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Downtown Vancouver will have a new entertainment center. This was announced by Premier Gordon Campbell when he disclosed plans for a new casino-hotel complex adjoining B.C. Place Stadium. The B.C. Place is lined up for renovation estimated to cost $565 million, including the installing of a new, marshmallow, $458-million retractable roof and Campbell said the new complex is part of the refurbishment plan.

Campbell said the complex is worth $450 million, and will include two hotels, five restaurants and a two-storey casino. The entire entertainment center will occupy an area of 680,000 square feet and will be situated on a one-hectare lot between the west side of B.C. place and the Cambie Bridge.

Campbell noted that once completed, the huge 24-hour casino and entertainment complex will transform the area into a new activity center, enhance tourism, and will give the economy a shot in the arm. “What we’re doing is creating a whole new entertainment complex for British Columbia. And I think what it really does is it will revitalize this part of town. It won’t just be a place that you drive around and drive through,” he said. Campbell estimates the new jobs created by the complex would be in thousands. For the duration of the construction, approximately 3,200 direct and 2,220 indirect jobs would be needed, and once the destination complex opens, around 1,900 direct and 1,300 indirect workers would be employed.

The casino’s first year of operation is also expected to yield $130 million in gaming revenues for the government of British Columbia.Start of construction is set in the early part of 2011, and is expected to finish by the middle of 2013, but the city of Vancouver still has to grant a rezoning permit of the site.

Paragon Development of Las Vegas won the private-sector bid to build the project. The company and B.C. Pavilion Corp. (PavCo), which manages the B.C. Place, signed a 70-year lease contract which stipulates a $6- million-a-year (plus inflation) lease revenue for PavCo for the first 10 years, with the amount increasing thereafter.

Campbell said the lease revenue will help compensate for the cost of B.C. place’s new retractable roof. The Edgewater Casino, owned by Paragon and which is presently located at the Plaza of Nations will be moved to the new complex, but would need rezoning approval. A debate among False Creek residents is likely to ensue on the issue of rezoning, but Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs said there a greater chance of the city approving it despite the expected resistance from residents. An official from River Rock Casino in Richmond said the casino is not worried about its market share and has reacted positively to the competition.