Malaysia-based Genting Group has filed a lawsuit against Miami-Dade County and Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle to try to force the state of Florida to allow slot machines and card games at its property in the former Omni Mall. Attorney Chris Kise, representing Genting Resorts World Omni, said, “The purpose of the action is to ensure that our review of the relevant laws is accurate and to provide clarity and certainty that the activities contemplated by the lease are permissible.”
In 2014, state regulators denied Gulfstream Park’s request to move one its parimutuel permits to the Omni, stating Broward County-based Gulfstream could not move a permit to Miami-Dade even though its property crosses the county line.
Gulfstream Park had an agreement with Resorts World, Genting’s real estate division, to open a casino at the Omni. On April 25, Gulfstream signed a one-year, $1 lease with Resorts World Omni for 7,500 square feet at the Omni. Two days later, citing that lease as grounds, Resorts World filed the law in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, asking a judge to determine if Gulfstream’s permit, which allows slot machines and card games where parimutuel betting occurs, is limited to Broward County. The ruling would stop law enforcement and state prosecutors from filing criminal charges against the Omni casino operators.
Genting has extensive holdings in Miami including the Omni mall and hotel, and the 14-acre Miami Herald complex it purchased for $236 million in 2011, located next door to the Omni.
Genting officials hoped state legislators would negotiate a new gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe which would have led to an additional slots permit in Miami-Dade. The tribe agreed to the extra permit but lawmakers adjourned without completing the compact or passing other gambling measures.
Kise said although the state “may not agree” with the decision to operate the permit in Miami-Dade, the regulating agency “doesn’t enforce the criminal laws.”
