Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, or P2E, has proposed a $250 million casino resort near Slidell in eastern St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana. The Los Angeles-based company would transfer the gaming license it holds from DiamondJacks, which closed last year due to Covid-19 fallout and the fact that it was the lowest performing casino in the Bossier City market, according to a 2018 report by the Spectrum Gaming Group for the Louisiana Economic Development agency.
P2E said the Slidell venue would include the casino and a 250-room hotel on 100 acres of vacant land, located off Interstate 10. It would create 3,000 construction and permanent jobs, developers said.
The project is picking up steam as the St. Tammany Parish council recently voted 11-1 for a resolution asking area lawmakers to introduce a bill in the legislature this spring authorizing a parish-wide referendum. St. Tammany Council Chairman Mike Lorino Jr. stated, “Nothing is etched in stone other than they’ve laid out what they want to do for St. Tammany. While they’re moving forward we will have public meetings, as many meetings as you can, because it’s vitally important for the people in St Tammany Parish to see it from the top to the bottom.”
P2E officials have been meeting with Slidell leaders to drum up support for the proposed casino resort. The company said it would invest $30 million for a sports/family entertainment complex and $5 million toward a Slidell ring levee. In addition, P2E agreed to share 5 percent of revenue with the local government, which could pump an additional $10 million a year into the local economy when combined with projected casino tax revenue. Ronnie Jones, former chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, said, “If you look at casino deals around the country, there’s always a lot of horse trading. Sometimes that’s enough to leverage local support.”
The 2018 Spectrum report identified the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain as one of two areas that are underserved; the other is the Monroe/Tallulah area. The Spectrum report stated Louisiana residents spend more than $380 million annually at Mississippi Coast casinos, located as close as a 30-minute drive east. Matt Roob, senior vice president of analysis at Spectrum, said, “If Louisiana can repatriate half of that or 30 percent of that, it would be terrific. It creates jobs in Louisiana, tax dollars in Louisiana. It’s not how I slice the pie, but how do I make the pie bigger?”
Jones noted the Mississippi casinos are likely to put up a fight. “They don’t want Louisiana to siphon off some of their business. No one wants to lose any market share,” he said. P2E spokesman Jay Connaughton stated, “We are confident our project, with a full offering of resort amenities and world class entertainment, will stop the flood of money flowing to Mississippi. That’s why the Mississippi Gaming Association is already calling Louisiana lobbyists.”
Jones said New Orleans area casinos also are likely to oppose a Slidell casino resort. “I suspect they’re going to move pretty vigorously to keep the market to themselves,” Jones said.
A petition already is circulating against the proposed casino. Pastor Casey Stark of First Baptist Church in Slidell said, “Anytime a casino like this comes in it causes significant problems and issues. Casinos have a long track record of promising diamonds but give dust.”
