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Dave Berns
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A top Kansas City politico surprised Station Casinos Inc. executives at a Wednesday meeting when he told Missouri gaming regulators that city leaders were considering the development of a rail link from downtown to the company's new $255 million riverboat.
Mayor Pro Tem George Blackwood told the five-member Missouri Gaming Commission that the line from Kansas City's Union Station could include the Kemper Arena sports complex and the River Market business area.
"This project is going to be incredibly significant to the future of this city," Blackwood said of the 140,000-square-foot casino and 200-room hotel resort.
CUSTOMER SERVICE ... Treasure Island has unveiled a new concierge service for its slot machines. The system allows customers to communicate via video teleconferencing with a hotel representative without leaving their slot machines. The concierge pays jackpots, finds cocktail servers and makes dinner reservations.
THE LION ROARS ... MGM Grand Inc. has a goal to increase its operating cash flow to $500 million from $250 million once it completes its current construction and renovation project, reports Dow Jones News Service.
The projects include the creation of the Hollywood-themed City of Entertainment in Las Vegas; the company's 50 percent interest in the newly opened New York-New York Strip resort; the renovation of the MGM Grand in Darwin, Australia; and the planned MGM Grand in Atlantic City, N.J.
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Earlier this month, the company announced that its joint venture with two South African firms had been named a "preferred" finalist for two of three gaming licenses in Mpumalanga Province of the Republic of South Africa.
The projects are in the cities of Witbank, 80 miles northeast of Johannesburg, and Nelspruit, 220 miles northeast of Johannesburg.
MGM Grand Inc. expects to have cash flow and credit of $1.7 billion to $2 billion available over the next four years to finance its growth, said company President Alex Yemenidjian.
MORE MGM ... MGM Grand Inc. will go before the Clark County Commission on Wednesday for the zoning approval it needs to build a 300,000 square foot convention center as part of the MGM Grand's $250 million renovation.
The $45 million meeting hall will take up 0.65 of an acre at the northwest corner of Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane, behind the 5,000-room hotel. The planned convention hall property is currently zoned for rural uses.
MGM Grand has released few details of the new convention center, which is expected to be complete early next year, according to company spokesman Jack Leone.
QUOTABLE ... "We will either be considered visionary if we prove correct with Station Casinos or blind as bats for failing to recognize that even the best physical plants can be too much for a given market." -- Salomon Brothers gaming stock analyst Bruce Turner, on the Thursday opening of Station Casino-Kansas City.
Gaming Chips is compiled by Review-Journal writer Dave Berns. His e-mail address: Dave_Berns@lvrj.com.
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