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Cape Girardeau Chooses Isle of Capri as Developer in Its Casino Bid

Posted on August 30th, 2010

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Towards the end of last week, members of the city council of Cape Girardeau decided to give its support to the construction of a casino in the downtown area of the town, estimated to be worth $125 million. City officials, after this pronouncement, added further that this project has the makings of becoming one of the city’s biggest plans to develop its economy in its entire history. Moreover, the council has also put into vote which company they prefer to be the developer of the project. With a vote of 6 to 1, the council has decided to give the project to the Isle of Capri Company, reasoning that the company is a transparent one. Isle of Capri edged out St. Louis Capital Partners LLC. The Isle of Capri, a company based in St. Louis, according to the members of the council and staff of the city, is the only company willing to divulge more details of its casino plans with them. On the other hand, St. Louis Capital Partners chose to wait until it finally passes an application with the Gaming Commission of the state before it gives details of its plans. These plans are aimed to acquire the only available casino license left for the state. Mayor Harry Rediger said that they preferred Isle of Capri because it was open and willing to share its plans with the city completely. He adds, “The other one chose not to come forth with the plan until after Sept. 1. They took a different style, which makes it difficult for us.”

The lone vote that went against the six winning votes belonged to council member Debra Tracy. She claimed that she was not sure that she should pick Isle of Capri without looking first into both plans from the two companies. She adds that she has had some concern and questions over the procedure and that she is not comfortable to proclaim the Isle of Capri plan as the priority without knowing the details of the St. Louis Capital plan. Most of the meeting last Thursday, aside from the actually voting, was given to Isle of Capri. St. Louis Capital did not field any representatives to the meeting and has so far not given any public comment. Isle of Capri has released most of its plans not just to the council and the city but to the press as well. Furthermore, Scott Meyer, the city manager admitted the staff of the city has already met with company representatives of Isle of Capri to talk about the development terms of the project. Details of Isle of Capri’s plans includes a floor plan that can accommodate slot machines, table games, 1,200 players, restaurants and a conference and entertainment that with a seating capacity of 750. The proposed site by Isle of Capri is property along North Main Street. The lot is currently owned by Cape Girardeau businessmen David Knight and Jim Riley.

Moreover, Mayer said that Isle of Capri sweetened its proposal by offering additional incentives going beyond the taxes and fees required under law. The details of the additional incentives offered by the company were not made public by city officials though. They promise to make these details more public as soon as council meetings start by next month. The mayor also admitted that it was the city staff that recommended endorsing a company as soon as possible as per the suggestion of the Missouri Gaming Commission saying that the city’s application for the license would be strengthened if it has already teamed up with a developer rather than wait for the application deadline to pass before choosing a developer.

Meanwhile, Isle of Capri, despite for this small victory, knows that the process is still long and that there are still a lot of things to be undergone. The elections in November 2 will put the casino issue on the spotlight again for voters to decide on. A group in opposition to any casino to be built in Cape Girardeau has already filed documents to become a campaign committee for the elections. Moreover, four other areas in the state are also wanting to get that license which has become available when a casino in St. Louis close in the early months of this year.