Sands out, but LV eyes still trained on Kansas

Las Vegas Sands Corp. fell out of the running to build a casino in Kansas City, Kan., but two other casino proposals with ties to Southern Nevada are still in contention.

Government leaders in Wyandotte County, Kan., last week upheld a decision by area planners who didn't like the proposed location where Las Vegas Sands said it wanted to build a $500 million casino development. Kansas City officials are considering four other offers.

Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment, which operates a string of regional casinos, wants to develop a $650 million project on 60 acres. Olympia Gaming, which has proposed to build a casino near Southern Highlands, is part of a development group with plans for a casino project that includes an 18-hole golf course. The two other proposals are from a pair of Indian tribes and from a partnership that wants to build a casino near the Kansas Speedway racetrack.

Speculation abounded in September when Harrah's Entertainment bought the 175-acre Macau Orient Golf Course in the Chinese gaming enclave. The South China Morning Post estimated the land, one of just two golf courses in Macau, was worth between $2.7 billion and $3.8 billion.

Macau Orient is near the Lotus Bridge, which connects the Cotai Strip with mainland China and is just a short drive from the cluster of hotel-casinos under construction on the Cotai Strip.

Harrah's never said how much it paid for the Macau Orient until recently.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Harrah's said the rights to a land concession contract for Macau Orient cost $577.7 million. The Macau government owns most of the land.

Harrah's does not own a casino concession or subconcession in Macau. Some gaming observers believe Macau might issue new gaming concessions after 2009 and Harrah's could transform the golf course into a hotel-casino site.

Pittsburgh's only slot-machine casino will begin taking shape Tuesday. Fitzgeralds owner Don Barden will break ground on a $450 million riverfront casino, nearly a year after Pennsylvania awarded him the area's only casino license.

Barden, a Detroit businessman who bought Fitzgeralds in 2001, was the surprise winner of the license, beating out Harrah's Entertainment and Isle of Capri Casinos. Barden experienced delays in starting the project. Harrah's and Isle appealed the decision while the city's two major sports franchises, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers, complained about traffic issues.

The Inside Gaming column is compiled by Review-Journal gaming and tourism writers Howard Stutz, Benjamin Spillman and Arnold M. Knightly. Send your tips about the gaming and tourism industry to insidegaming@reviewjournal.com.