Miami Beach has reportedly joined the legal battle centered around the establishment of a multi-billion-dollar casino resort in downtown Miami. According to local media, the city has filed court papers to state its opposition to the major project proposed by Malaysian gambling giant Genting Group.
Earlier this year, Genting filed a lawsuit against Miami-Dade County and local State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in a bid to have its proposal greenlighted by the state. Generally speaking, the major gambling operator has long wanted to build an integrated local and casino resort in the Omni area in downtown Miami.
Miami Beach has not formerly been a party to the legal battle between the casino company and Miami-Dade officials, the city has decided to voice its opposition to the project in court. According to city officials, a venue of this kind would have negative social and economic effects on the area. They have pointed out that the opening of a casino would cause a withdrawal of tourists from neighboring businesses and would result in an increase in crime rates and traffic issues.
Genting’s attempts to construct a casino in downtown Miami date back to 2011 when the operator purchased the site of the former Omni mall and hotel as well as that of Miami Herald’s former headquarters for the amount of $236 million.
The company later on signed an agreement with Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino, a Hallandale Beach-located racetrack, under which the latter was to move its pari-mutuel license to the Omni site where it was to build and operate a casino. However, the move was blocked by state regulators back in 2014.
People with knowledge of the matter argued that Genting’s latest legal action came as an attempt for the operator to get around the 2014 ban. In its legal filing, Resorts World Omni, Genting’s Miami-based real estate division, asked for a judge to allow Gulfstream Park to operate a casino at the Omni site.
In preparation for the legal filing, Genting and Gulfstream Park inked a one-year one-dollar lease agreement with Resorts World Omni for a 7,500-square-foot space at the site of the former shopping mall and hotel. The said agreement was then cited in the court papers as grounds for requesting from the judge to declare the proposed operation legal.
