Indiana-based casino developer Spectacle Entertainment laid out earlier this week the timeline of its proposed Hard Rock-branded casino resort in Gary before the city’s Plan Commission.
The company announced earlier this month that it has partnered Florida gaming and hospitality giant Hard Rock International to build a $400 million resort as a land-based replacement of Spectacle’s Majestic Star riverboat casinos in Gary.
John Keeler, Vice President and General Counsel of Spectacle, said Tuesday that instead of opening all the amenities planned for the complex simultaneously, they have decided to roll out those in phases, starting with the casino.
Keeler told Gary planning officials that they “originally envisioned to do that all in one fell swoop, but then along came Illinois and that sort of set us back on our heels.” The Spectacle Vice President went on that they are committed to the project and committed to doing it in two phases instead.
The company representative referred to the recently approved gambling expansion package in neighboring Illinois that, among other things, authorizes the construction of up to six new casinos in that state. The new gambling venues in Illinois could steal customers away from Indiana’s northwest casinos, including the proposed one in Gary, analysts say.
Spectacle told the city’s Plan Commission that they hope they will be able to open the Hard Rock-branded casino by December 31, 2020. A hotel and a parking facility will be launched within two to three years.
The Gary Casino
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Gary will feature the region’s second largest casino, a sportsbook, food and beverage outlets, including a Hard Rock Cafe, and a Hard Rock Live music performance venue.
Rich Zeigler, Vice President of Development at Spectacle, told Gary planning commissioners that Hard Rock’s designers have begun crafting the interior and exterior look of the resort that will spread over a 27-acre site south of the Borman Expressway at the Burr Street exit.
Zeigler explained that the pending Illinois gambling expansion has “changed things for us a bit and we’re still working through the design process of exactly how big it is.” The casino is expected to occupy approximately 200,000 square feet and will feature “all of the amenities that you would see in a state-of-the-art and top-of-the-line casino.”
Of their choice to partner Hard Rock, instead of running the Gary casino alone, Keeler said that the partnership was “dictated by what happened in Illinois.” The official further elaborated that their property would only be able to compete and put out a first-class offering through a deal “with the gold standard, with the Rolls Royce […] in the casino gaming industry.”
Hard Rock currently operates or is building 12 casino resorts in the US, Canada, and the Dominican Republic. The company also has plans to expand in Japan, where casino gambling became legal a few years ago.
Aside from Indiana, Hard Rock also hopes to enter the Illinois casino market. Earlier this month, the gaming and hospitality powerhouse presented a plan for the development of a resort in the city of Rockford at the site of the former Clock Tower Resort.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on the day’s top casino news stories.
