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Planned Cleveland and Cincinnati Casinos to be Operated by Harrah’s

Posted on August 14th, 2010

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Casinos in the downtown area of Cleveland and Cincinnati will be partly owned and operated by Harrah’s Entertainment. A preliminary contact was drafter between one of the biggest players in the gaming world and Rock Ventures, a firm based in Detroit to manage casinos professionally. The building of casinos in the state was only made legal in November last year by voters of Ohio. The agreement, which is non-binding in principle and up for finalization in fall, includes conditions that will require Harrah’s to be a minority investor for the two casinos planned in Ohio, with Rock gaming, a Rock Ventures Company, as the majority owners.

In an interview, Matt Cullen, one of the top executives at Rock Ventures said, “We want to be the best urban casino in the U.S. – we want to blow people away.” He refers to the work of Harrah’s in New Orleans, where its downtown casino has played a significant role in revitalizing the neighboring community. Cullen projects that by late 2010, ground breaking would already be done on the casino by developers, while the projected casino opening will be in 2012’s second half. Dan Gilbert, owner of Rock Ventures, had already mentioned during his company’s campaign last fall that he would like the casinos he will be building to be run by an outside company while he continues to assume the ownership role. In a statement released last Thursday, he stated that his company’s commitment to bring projects that relate and coordinate with the areas where they will be located is in line with what Harrah’s stands for. He adds that the agreement between the two companies will increase business in the surrounding areas where the casinos will be built, which would mean continuous growth for the downtown areas of Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, Harrah’s chief executive, Gary Loveman, stated that his company shares with Rock Gaming a vision to give rise to top-notch casinos in the urban areas that will create jobs and cause economic development in the two cities. As part-owner of the casinos, Harrah’s will be expected to handle the casinos’ daily operations, as well as give inputs into their look and design. The casino to open in Cincinnati’s Broadway Commons by 2012 is said to be facing downtown in the southwest direction, More or less 50 casinos spread in four continents are owned or being run by Harrah’s. The most popular of these facilities include Paris, Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo, Bally’s and Planet Hollywood. It boasts of a yearly revenue amounting to $8.9 billion, one-third of which is generated by the company’s Las Vegas casinos. In Indiana, the company also oversees operation of two Horseshoe casinos. Among other properties of the company are Caesars Windsor in Canada and Turfway Park in Florence, both of which are half-owned by Harrah’s. Also under Harrah’s operations are three tribal casinos located in San Diego, Phoenix and Cherokee, NC. The company is also responsible for the success of the World Series ofr Poker, which it operates and owns.

The yearly gambling revenue that two casinos to be under Harrah’s care is expected to come up with may total up to $1.1 billion. The casino in Cincinnati alone is expected to generate $520 million in revenue annually. Furthermore, since the two casinos will be operated by Harrah’s, they will be expected to carry any of the three major brands of Harrah’s: Horseshoe, Harrah’s or Caesars. On the part of other players from the industry and government, the announcement was met positively. Cincinnati’s mayor, Mark Malory welcomed Harrah’s role and claims that the convention and tourism industries of the city will be given a push with a casino in their city. Rock Ventures’ different projects include ownership of the NBA team Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans, an online mortgage company. The company’s initial plans of naming their casino operator in spring was pushed to the summer as officials of the company claim that taking their name in making sure they could come up with the best candidate.

The casino is Cincinnati is said to be designed with encouraging gamblers to visit businesses beside it in mind. It is estimated to cover 500,000 square feet with a parking lot to accommodate 4,000 vehicles. Up to six retailers and four restaurants in the facility’s perimeter were included by Rock Ventures in its preliminary plans.