The Cordish Companies completed the exterior phase of construction on the 0 million Flagship Live! Hotel at the Live! casino property in Hanover, Maryland, the state’s largest casino. Hotel officials placed the final steel beam in place with a traditional “Topping Off” ceremony.
The 350,000-square-foot luxury hotel, located adjacent to the Live! Casino, which is adjacent to Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover, features a 17-story hotel tower, 310 guest rooms, an event center, meeting spaces, a day spa/salon, and David’s Café, a 24/7 dining establishment. It is the first hotel in the country to carry the Cordish Live! brand.
Live! also operates Live! Lofts, a boutique hotel minutes from the casino. Together, the properties will offer guests 560 rooms for overnight accommodations and multiple spaces for events and private meetings.
“We are now one step closer to creating an experience that does not currently exist in the region today,” said David Cordish, chairman of the Cordish Companies. “Nowhere else can you find this mix of dynamic gaming, first-class accommodations, entertainment, dining and retail, plus our trademark customer service. Guests know that when they come here, they are treated like part of our family.”
The Cordish Companies has a long history in development of iconic hospitality destinations, such as Charleston Place Hotel in South Carolina, and the Seminole Hard Rock Casino Hotels in Tampa and Hollywood, Florida. Live! Hotel and Live! Lofts are the first two hotels to carry the Live! moniker and round out the developer’s portfolio to include both luxury and boutique hotel accommodations. Expansion of both brands is planned across the United States and internationally.
“We can do things differently because we are a family-owned company,” said Blake Cordish, vice president of the Cordish Companies and head of the Real Estate Division. “The combination we are now offering with the luxury Live! Hotel, Live! Lofts boutique hotel, and one of the nation’s top casinos is unmatched. We are especially excited to be introducing this concept in our family’s hometown, where we have received so much support and worked very hard to give back to the community.”
With completion scheduled for early 2018, Live! Hotel will feature guest rooms designed with a modern, contemporary flare, along with public spaces showcasing floor-to-ceiling windows, high ceilings accented with striking chandeliers, and wood and polished marble throughout.
The Grand Event Center will house a 1,500-seat concert venue with built-in performance stage and banquet seating for up to 800 guests. Dining options include David’s Café, with dishes inspired by David Cordish’s world travels. Guests can relax at the Live! Spa luxury day spa & salon, featuring high-end products, a full menu of spa services, and a state-of-the-art fitness center.
The expansion will create 400 new jobs for local and regional residents, approximately 550 construction jobs, nearly 1,000 new parking spaces, and numerous new vendor opportunities for local, minority, women-owned, and veteran-owned business, the company said.
Tutor Perini Building Corporation currently serves as the general contractor. The Cordish Companies has also assembled an award-winning team of contractors, project architects and designers for the project, including Klai Juba Wald Architects, McLaren Engineering Group, Laurence Lee Associates, Cleo Design Corporation, Selbert Perkins, Corsi & Associates, Lynne Curry Spa Consulting, Giovanetti Schulman Associates, and EDSA.
Officials of Anne Arundel County may give one more lucrative gift to Cordish Companies in recognition of the economic impact of the hotel project. Last week, a bill was introduced in the Anne Arundel County Council to grant a tax break of up to $36 million to Cordish, to negate property taxes for the hotel and conference center. In lieu of a property tax payment, the legislation provides that Cordish would pay the county $1 a year for 30 years.
The tax credit would be granted under the county’s Payment In Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT program, which was changed this year to allow for the waiving of taxes on commercial properties. (It had been reserved for housing projects as a means of permitting affordable rent.)
The amount of the tax credit will be known this week, after the county auditor issues a final report on estimate property taxes, which are not expected to exceed $1.2 million per year.
