Although Georgia law currently prohibits casino gambling, several landowners there have hired Rick Lackey, founder of City Commercial Real Estate in Atlanta, to market their properties to prospective casino operators. Lackey recently returned from Las Vegas where he met with casino officials to pitch the benefits of developing large-scale destination casino resorts in Georgia.
Lackey said the sites are at least 100 acres each. He noted destination casinos could create at least 30,000 new jobs and generate a minimum of $3.6 billion in new development.
State Rep. Ron Stephens said he’ll introduce a bill in the next legislative session that would legalize gambling at three locations in the state, including his district, Savannah. The goal, Stephens said, is to use casino gambling revenue to shore up the HOPE scholarship program, which could run out of money by 2028.
Among the sites Lackey is marketing is a 500-acre tract off I-85 along Lake Hartwell in north Georgia, belonging to the Whitworth family, owners of Northeast Georgia Bank and Franklin Insurance. Randy Whitworth said the property had attracted the attention of MGM Resorts in 2008. “They all said it would bring two to three thousand jobs to the area. That was the selling point. That many jobs would really be beneficial to this part of northeast Georgia,” Whitworth said.
Lackey also represents a 320-acre site known as Airport City adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and another 320-acre tract owned by the Coastal Empire Fair about 10 miles from downtown Savannah. Coastal Empire Fair President Hugh Futrell said his organization and the nonprofit Savannah Exchange Club believe selling their land to a casino developer “is a chance for us to raise more money and help the community back. The jobs would literally go through the roof and that would affect the whole Savannah area. That’s why we kind of opened our doors to the idea of letting the property be marketed out to the gaming community.”
Lackey said he’s also marketing up to 300 acres across from the Great Wolf Lodge Resort indoor water park in LaGrange, Georgia, owned in a joint venture between the Selig family and Hodges Ward Elliott Chief Executive Officer William Hodges. Selig Enterprises Chief Operating Officer Jo Ann Chitty said, “We are looking into all types of uses for that property to include retail, hospitality, residential and entertainment concepts. LaGrange is a great city, and its proximity to Atlanta Hartsfield makes it an attractive destination for all types of businesses, including hospitality and tourism.”
Lackey added, “We are in serious discussions with the ownerships of two additional sites, one that is near Savannah and one that is further South Georgia, but all along the I-95 corridor.” He also said he has been marketing a 300-acre site near College Park, but City Manager Terrence Moore said, “We clarified with City Commercial that our present interests are not to pursue those opportunities. There are other opportunities and considerations that are not consistent with this casino approach.” Moore said development options have “zero percent to do with gaming.”
Lackey said Vegas casino operators have been open-minded but not eager to move forward. “The response has generally been, ‘Thanks for coming, I like the sites, but I’m really not interested in talking until there’s a clear path for legislation.’ They’ve flirted with the state in the past, but laws have not passed. They’re really not going to look hard at any site until there’s a clear path to legislation.”
