Will controversial Slidell casino proposal get the green light? Here’s the $325M plan.
Developers who want to build a casino on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain in Slidell upped their ante by $50 million last week in part to impress voters, who will help decide if the resort will be built.
A press conference was held to announce that a ballroom and conference facilities, marina upgrades, an amphitheater and lazy river were added to the plans.
The Blind Tiger restaurant, which has locations in Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, also will also be part of the development in a new location close to the marina.
The additions push the price tag of the resort from the initial $275 million to now $325 million.
That puts it over the expense of the newest casino to be built in South Mississippi. Scarlet Pearl Casino in D’Iberville was built five years ago at a cost of $290 million.
Scarlet Pearl has the 300 hotel rooms, a parking garage and other amenities required by the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
Louisiana doesn’t have a minimum requirement for hotel rooms. The Slidell resort could have about 250 rooms, Christopher Masingill, St. Tammany Corporation CEO, said at the press conference.
It would be built on about 100 acres on the lake, just east of the twin bridges on Interstate 10 that connects the north shore with New Orleans.
That puts it between New Orleans and the 12 casinos in South Mississippi, including two in neighboring Hancock County.
Casino competition between MS, LA
Competition between casinos in Mississippi and Louisiana isn’t new. Mississippi has unlimited licenses and Louisiana capped its licenses at 15.
Mississippi Gaming Commission approved sports betting in 2018, prompting sports fans from Louisiana to cross the border to bet on LSU or the New Orleans Saints.
Now Louisiana has approved sports betting and will have mobile betting, while in Mississippi sports bets have to be placed inside a casino, setting up another challenge.
It’s not just Mississippi casino operators who are watching the progress of the casino approvals.
The New Orleans Advocate reports that Boyd Gaming and Penn National Gaming, which own casinos in both Louisiana and Mississippi, had lobbyists working against the bill in the state Legislature that would allow a vote.
In Kenner, where Treasure Chest Casino is located, the city council asked Jefferson Parish lawmakers to oppose legislation allowing a St. Tammany vote, the Advocate reports.
“It’s going to affect us,” if a casino is built in Slidell, said Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Casino Operators Association, which represents casinos throughout the state.
In May, the 12 casinos in South Mississippi had 252,432 visits from Louisiana residents, or 20% of their total visitors.
That doesn’t mean people from Louisiana will stop coming to the Coast if a Slidell casino is built. Players tend to be loyal to their favorite casinos. With Mississippi tax rates at 12% and Louisiana’s at 26%, the Mississippi operators can afford to extend more perks for free rooms, meals and casino play.
Like every other challenge, the Mississippi casino industry will overcome, Gregory said.
“We have always won out,” he said, whether coming back from hurricanes or facing competition.
“This will be a casino,” he said — just one property and not the kind of threat Mississippi casinos would face if casinos were allowed in Georgia or Texas that currently don’t permit casinos.
Wind Creek Casino north of Mobile in Atmore, Alabama, operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, hasn’t affected the Coast yet, he said.
South Mississippi casinos have golf courses, beaches, attractions and restaurants. “We’re a great destination resort,” he said.
Controversy over Slidell casino
The developers, based in Los Angeles, were brash in choosing to propose a casino in Slidell, and paying nearly $14 million for the site with big obstacles to overcome:
▪ Casinos aren’t allowed in St. Tammany Parish. In 1996, voters blocked casinos in the parish. The voters will have a say again in 2021, but that’s not the only obstacle.
▪ The location, just outside Slidell city limits, is not an allowed casino site under a 1991 law. A bill passed by the Legislature overcame that issue.
▪ Louisiana law requires that a license be turned back to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board when a casino closes. Peninsula Pacific closed its DiamondJacks casino a year ago in Bossier City but held onto the license and is proposing to move that license to Slidell.
▪ P2E tried three years ago to move the license to Tangipahoa Parish, but the attempt to get a referendum on the ballot died in the Legislature.
▪ Mike Noel, who chairs the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, told The Advocate that the board could require Peninsula Pacific to surrender its license, one of 15 in the state, if the Legislature or St. Tammany Parish voters do not approve the casino. The board could then offer it for public bid.
▪ Every other casino license was turned back to the state when a casino closed. Dan Lee, president and CEO of Silver Slipper Casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and four other casinos, urged Louisiana officials to take the license away from P2E and put it out for bid. Lee told The Advocate he’d propose a $500 million casino in Lake Charles if given the chance.
▪ The Slidell project almost got held up in the Louisiana Legislature. Sen. Gary Smith, chairman of Judiciary B Committee, was the deciding vote in favor of the casino. He was challenged on the ethics of voting for it a second time since his wife is a casino lobbyist, The Advocate reported.
▪ Developers hope to break ground on the casino by the end of the year if voters approve it, Masingill said. But lawsuits typically filed over casino projects where rules are changed would delay that schedule by many months.
The promises
Peninsula Pacific hired 19 lobbyists to get the bill allowing the vote through the Louisiana Legislature.
Now that it has cleared the state legislators, the company is sweetening the deal at the local level.
Sen. Sharon Hewitt, a Republican who represents Slidell, said the developers pledged 5% of casino revenue to the parish and city (4.5% is required), in addition to the jobs, the economic development and tax revenue it will bring.
They’ve promised $35 million for a sports park and $100,000 for a master plan.
They’ve committed money for the levee district to help with flood protection and drainage.
Proceeds will fund STEM education for science, technology, engineering and math. Additional money will be used for mental health, homelessness, food insecurity and youth services.
The parish council is conducting a hearing at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 30, to let the public ask questions about the resort proposed by Peninsula Pacific Entertainment.
Religious groups remain opposed and are expected to share their opinions at the hearing.
State Rep. Mary DuBuisson, a Republican representing Slidell, said at last week’s press conference that these critics should focus on the economic boost the casino will bring them.
“I think ultimately they will have more money in their baskets that they pass around at their churches,” DuBuisson said. “That should make them happy.”
