The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission recently heard presentations from six companies hoping to perform a statewide gambling industry survey and review three proposals for a Cedar Rapids casino. Commission Administrator Brian Ohorilko said one or more companies could be selected at the panel’s meeting next month, with casino developers presenting in April and a finalist named in November.
In 2014, the commission approved a casino for Greene County, after it voted 4-1 to deny a gaming license to Cedar Rapids. Studies at the time showed the Greene County casino would least affect other Iowa casinos.
Ohorilko said, “There are a number of criteria that play into whether or not a decision to approve or deny a gambling license should occur. Those market studies have played a more significant impact the past few instances where applications have been considered but it truly is up to the individual commission members to determine what weight they would play. Not only on that factor, but other factors.”
The applicants for the market study are:
• Annex Analytics of Cedar Rapids, specializes in analyzing transactional data, customer service data, online activity data, social network activity data, competitive intelligence, market studies and marketing plan development. Founded in 2016, Peggy Stover is president and Jim Thebeau is chief operating officer.
• Marquette Advisors of Minneapolis is a real estate consulting firm that conducts market studies, feasibility analyses, appraisals and debt and equity advisory services, specializing in hospitality and gaming. Louis W. Frillman is president.
• Spectrum Gaming Group of Linwood, New Jersey specializes in economics, regulation and policy of legalized gambling worldwide. Founded by Frederic Gushin, in 1993, he and Michael Pollock are managing directors.
• Strategic Economic Group of West Des Moines, Iowa consists of analysts, planners and creative researchers focused on public and private sector projects, including an economic impact study of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Incorporated in 2000, the firm is registered to Harvey Siegelman, economist and president.
• Union Gaming of Las Vegas, founded in 2009, is a boutique investment bank and advisory firm focused exclusively on the global gaming industry, including land-based casinos, lottery, online and parimutuel wagering. Rich Baldwin is managing director and head of Union Gaming Analytics.
• White Sand Gaming of Atlantic City, New Jersey provides casino and resort management and consulting services for gaming corporations, regulatory agencies, tribal governments, lotteries, racetracks and resort hotels. Headquartered in Las Vegas, the firm was founded in 2001. Saverio R. Scheri III is president and chief executive.
Union Gaming and Marquette conducted a $150,000 statewide analysis, with an emphasis on Linn and Jefferson counties, in 2014. Those studies led to the commission’s denial of a gaming license for Cedar Rapids, predicting 73-81 percent of a Cedar Rapids casino’s revenue would come from cannibalizing nearby casinos, especially Riverside Casino & Golf Resort in Washington County. The studies also influenced commissioners to vote 3-2 to approve a license for Wild Rose Jefferson in June 2014.
The commission will pay for the 2017 study, which will be due October 1, out of its regulatory fees, which total $6.2 million a year.
The three Cedar Rapids casino developers that submitted applications on February 1, are:
Los Angeles-based Peninsula Pacific and Cedar Rapids Development Group, which have proposed the $165 million Cedar Crossing on the River, identical to the project the commission rejected in April 2014. Peninsula Pacific and Cedar Rapids Development Group also have proposed the $105 million Cedar Crossing Central. And Wild Rose Entertainment, partnering with Cedar Rapids developers Steve Emerson and Hunter Parks, has proposed the $42 million Wild Rose Cedar Rapids “boutique” casino.
