Last December, the Louisiana Gaming Commission (LGC) approved Peninsula Pacific’s sale of the abandoned Diamond Jacks Casino in Bossier City to Foundation Gaming.
Now the LGC recently approved Foundation’s sale of the property to the Cordish Companies.
When it purchased Diamond Jacks, Foundation officials announced a $200 million renovation project. Cordish officials, however, are expected to surpass that amount, according to the Shreveport Times.
They’ll present their plans at a public meeting of the commission on April 17.
In a statement released April 5, Cordish said it intends to develop the property “into a world-class Live! casino resort and entertainment destination including the construction of a land-based casino to replace the existing casino riverboat.”
Joe Weinberg, managing director for Cordish, added that the company is excited to “bring our Live! brand to Louisiana for the first time,” and Bossier City Mayor Thomas Chandler said that the new project “will not only attract millions of visitors to our city annually, it will also create substantial new jobs and generate additional significant tax revenue for our community.”
The transaction most likely will set back the reopening of the property until 2025. LGC Chairman Ronnie Johns told USA Today Network, “It will set the project back a few months, but it will greatly enhance it. I’m excited about the new developments that will enhance the final product.”
Diamond Jacks closed in spring 2020 due to the ”unexpected impact” of Covid-19, according to previous owner Peninsula.
The company had never intended to reopen the casino in Bossier City—instead, it hoped to use its Bossier City gaming license to build a $325 million casino resort in St. Tammany Parish near Slidell.
However, local voters strongly opposed the idea. Johns commented, “Peninsula bought the property to go to St. Tammany. When that didn’t work out, they bailed out.”
The casino, then called Isle of Capri, was the first to open in the Shreveport-Bossier market in 1994.
