A new $275m casino has been approved by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission from backers, which will see the Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center built in the state despite some previous legal complications.
The Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center, which will be built in Cedar Rapids, will contain 700 slot machines, 22 table games, and a 1,500-seat entertainment venue to host events and live music. It was pitched by the Linn County Gaming Association in partnership with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment.
The proposed Iowa casino and hotel has endured some legal turbulence in the state, as it was a topic of debate in the House of Representatives, where a five-year prohibition was enforced on new casino licenses was approved in a vote of 68-31. However, this suspended vote failed in the Senate, and the Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center was given the green light.
Approved plans for the Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center mark the third time the county has applied for a gaming license, with the previous times being rejected by The Gaming Commission in 2014 and 2017. As part of its bid, the Linn County Gaming Association has promised to donate 8% of its profits to the community with local charities.
Cedar Rapids Development Group Director Jonathan Swain said, “This is the best one”. He added: “It has the most amenities, it’s the highest value proposal, and so I think that the commission looked at that and saw a differentiation from the prior applications that we submitted.”
A four-to-one vote to approve the gaming license was met with some cannibalization fears that Cedar Crossing could draw as much as $56 million away from other casinos in the area, other dissenting voices claimed as high as $68 million. Commissioner Alan Ostegren of Altoona cast the singular opposing vote, who said: “We are a million miles away from a free market here,” Ostergren said. “And we did not ask as a commission to be put in a position of a command economy. But here we are.”
Cedar Rapids Development Group and the Linn County Gaming Association will have until October 31, 2027, to finish building and opening the new $275 casino, which will mark one of the largest gambling investments Iowa has ever seen.
Also in the news, the Georgia Senate proposes a resolution to legalize sports betting and casinos.
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