Although it’s been five years since the Hollywood Casino Columbus opened in Ohio’s largest city, the jury is still out on how much impact it has had on Columbus’s West Side, much less in the surrounding Franklin County.
The $400 million Hollywood Casino, which opened October 2012, and is owned and operated by Penn National Gaming, has been the top producing of the Buckeye State’s four casinos. Last year it ended with an adjusted gross revenue of $202 million.
Since it opened 41 businesses of all sizes have opened or expanded near the casino, according to Weston Vision, the economic development group for the West Side.
The casino’s influence on these developments are not quantifiable, but Chris Haydocy, president of the Weston Vision says they are there. He told the Columbus Dispatch, “If not for the completion of the casino, there’s no compelling reason for businesses to invest here.”
On the other hand, Retail Ventures, which bought the West Broad Plaza shopping center two months after the casino opened, planned to make the move before the casino. “We felt even if the casino wasn’t there, we could turn things around,” said one of the owners, although he added that he was “happy to be its neighbor.”
There is no doubting that Penn National helps local charities through its $5 million West Side Community Fund, which helps pay for development and charity projects.
According to Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for Penn, “Our primary role is to work with the Weston partnership, which we have done since the day they were formed.” He added, “Our role is to just be supportive.”
Betty Janes of the Westgate Neighbors Association credits the casino with resurrecting the former Delphi auto-parts plant—when no other developer would have built there. But she would also like the casino to do more as a mover for redevelopment. “It would be nice for the casino to be a corporate partner and anchor,” she told the Dispatch.
