Md. gaming commission grants MGM casino second six-month delay

Operators of Maryland’s sixth and final casino have been granted the last of of two six-month extensions.

But the extension does not mean a delay in the opening of MGM National Harbor. Lawyers for the casino now under construction say the facility will open by the end of the year and be completed sooner than the planned 30-month construction period.

The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission voted Thursday to grant the extension to allow the operators of the $1.3 billion MGM National Harbor Casino time to complete construction. Operators now have until Feb. 14, 2017, but say they will plan on opening the casino as much as two months earlier, according to a filing with the commission.

The extension was caused by conflicting dates for the casino opening set by state law and a licensing commission.

State law required that that the newest casino not open earlier than July 1, 2016, or 30 months after the opening of the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore. The dates were set in order to give the Baltimore facility an opportunity to establish itself before a new facility opened.

But in awarding the casino license to MGM in August 2014, the Maryland Video Lottery Facility Location Commission, ordered the casino to open within 18 months — nearly five months earlier than allowed by state law.

The order also ignored MGM’s approved plan that included a 30-month timeline for construction.

In February 2015, the gaming commission approved the first of two possible six-month extensions meant to ensure MGM could comply with state law and complete construction. Operators of the casino held off on asking for approval for the second extension until this month “because the MGM National Harbor facility was in the early stages of construction. With the 2015-2016 winter (and its potential to cause weather-related construction delays) now behind us and the construction of the MGM National Harbor facility well underway, the opening date of the facility is much firmer.”

In fact, attorneys for the casino say they expect to be able to open the casino in December, a timeline that puts it on track to be completed sooner than the originally proposed 30-month construction timeline.