Homo:Downtown
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| Rendering of the proposed downtown casino |
"the casino would pay $50 million upfront to the state in a one-time fee. A 3 percent entertainment tax would generate $13 million to $15 million for the city of Minneapolis." -Pioneer Press
I'm interested/worried/annoyed/confused/excited about the idea of turning Block E into a Casino. I like that the state would raise about $125 million a year, but worried that ugly building on Hennepin (aka Block E) might not be the best location. I could easily be swayed onto Team Casino if they promised Daniel Craig would be there every day dressed as James bond.
Block E's new owners explained "Block E's fatal problem to date has been its reputation as a rough-and-tumble spot." (I would also like to ad that the building is heinous and "nothing special" to visit.) They continued "Safety was the main concern. It's what is keeping people from the suburbs from coming to downtown Minneapolis." -City Pages While that is probably true (it is), when I think of "safety" I don't scream out "WE NEED A CASINO."
"The solution, Lux said, is to replace the menacing riff-raff with a young and wealthy crowd of out-of-towners drawn to a new massive gaming complex on the Block E site, complete with gambling facilities, restaurants, bars, and an open-air rooftop deck featuring pools, waterfalls, and "botanical gardens."-City Pages
The new owners project that a Casino would ad 85,000 additional bookings in MPLS hotels a year.
"According to the Innovation Group, a New Orleans-based gambling consultant hired by Alatus, the casino would draw 5.6 million people a year, 4 million of whom would be folks who otherwise wouldn't come." -Pioneer Press
I guess that would be cool, as long as one of those 4 million people is Daniel Craig.
-mo
