Arundel Mills official: Slots alternatives are ‘fantasy’ 

Posted: 8:10 pm Mon, November 16, 2009
By Nicholas Sohr
Daily Record Business Writer

Arundel Mills officials said Monday alternatives to a proposed slots parlor next to the mall are “somewhat of a fantasy” as a state commission and the Anne Arundel County Council near key votes on the plan.

The planned 200,000-square-foot casino has hung in regulatory limbo as the state Video Lottery Facility Location Commission, which approves casino licenses, and the County Council, which shapes local zoning laws, pushed each other to move first.

But state commissioners said last week they would try to vote on the proposal from Cordish Cos., a Baltimore-based developer, before Dec. 7, when council could vote on two zoning changes. One would allow the Arundel Mills project to go forward, and the other would not.

“We’re confident in the end that council will do the right thing for the state,” said Gregg M. Goodman, president of The Mills, subsidiary of Simon Property Group Inc.

County Executive John R. Leopold said he was “cautiously optimistic” the Arundel Mills proposal would pass.

“I think that was a significant development,” Leopold said of the commission’s intent to act first. “It underscores the importance not only Anne Arundel County, but the entire state. We have a severe downturn in the economy and job creation is essential.”

Goodman and Arundel Mills General Manager Gene Condon said the mall is a natural complement for the proposed 4,750-machine facility, which would be the largest in the state. Simon has developed other retail hubs with gaming ties, including The Forum Shops at the Caesar’s Palace casino in Las Vegas.

“Not everyone wants to go gamble, so that’s why we really want the project here because it creates that opportunity for the synergy to drive more folks to the area while not creating competition down the street,” Condon said. “Because wherever it goes, that [retail synergy] has to come to make it work.”

There was another bid for the Anne Arundel County gaming license, submitted by the Laurel Racing Association for a venue at the Laurel Park racetrack.

The commission threw out that bid because neither Laurel nor its parent company, Magna Entertainment Corp., submitted a required $28.5 million application fee. The company has been fighting the commission’s decision in court, and challenging the portion of state law upon which the rejection was based.

That left Arundel Mills as the only real proposal, Goodman said.

“There are no competing sites,” he said. “This was an open submission process, and the only party that submitted in under the rules and regulations were Cordish, at this site. The idea that all of a sudden all of these sites that didn’t submit back through the process are now viable options is honestly somewhat of a fantasy that has been purported in order to have an impact on the discussion of this project.”

Cordish officials also took solace in the state commission’s efforts to move forward. The company is hosting an information session 11 a.m., Thursday at Arundel Mills for vendors, contractors and job candidates interested in working at the casino.

Cordish estimated there would be 2,500 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs.

The casino, once it hits stable operation around 2016, would have a direct economic impact of $534 million, and an indirect impact of another $102 million, according to analysts from PricewaterhouseCoopers. It would employ 1,660 in the area, the analysts found.

State and local governments would see $337.4 million in annual revenue from the casino, according to the analysis.

It would also mean changes for the mall itself. Goodman said the deal with Cordish calls for a parking garage for about 4,500 cars to be built before the casino rises outside the west entrance of the mall. The project will also include four or five “white tablecloth” restaurants between the mall and the casino.

“There are already several preliminary commitments from several well-known names to come in with the Cordish project,” Goodman said.