Downtown Grand shuffles leadership; Schorr becomes chairman

Downtown Grand shuffled management at the 634-room hotel-casino Monday with CEO Seth Schorr giving up day-to-day operational duties and taking on the new title as chairman.

Schorr will be replaced by Jim Simms, who joins Fifth Street Gaming after managing regional casinos in the U.S. for several gaming companies.

The Downtown Grand was created out of the shuttered Lady Luck. It is owned by CIM Group and operated by Fifth Street Gaming.

Simms has more than 20 years of experience in the gaming industry.

He was most recently president Miami Valley Gaming in Ohio. Simms also served as president of Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack in West Virginia.

Simms worked for several casino owned by Ameristar Casinos and Caesars Entertainment Corp.

According to a statement, Schorr will focus on long-range planning of the Downtown Grand, “with an emphasis on the gaming operations of the casino.”

Downtown Grand opened in September 2013, seven years after the Lady Luck was closed. The price of the renovation, redesign and transformation of the Lady Luck into the Downtown Grand alone was about $100 million.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Find @howardstutz on Twitter.