|
Bob Mackin
Business in Vancouver
February 10-16, 2004 Issue 746
Casinos gambling on a full house
Multi-million-dollar developments adding restaurant and showroom
facilities to lure clientele
Hollywood North could soon be Las Vegas North as two new
Lower Mainland waterfront casinos prepare for May openings.
Great Canadian Gaming Corporation is spending $150
million to rebuild the former Bridgepoint Market on the shores
of the Fraser River near the Oak Street Bridge in Richmond
to house 600 to 950 slot machines and 50 to 75 gambling tables,
five restaurants, a health club and marina. A 225-suite hotel
and 1,000-seat multi-use showroom will open in December or
January.
On False Creek's north shore, Grand Casino and Royal
Diamond Casino are planning a 600-slot, 60-table casino
for the Plaza of Nations' Enterprise Hall.
Howard Blank, Great Canadian's executive director
of media and public relations, said the Richmond theatre will
be able to convert from a convention floor to a theatre in
eight minutes and is a key element of the marketing strategy
for Great Canadian Place.
"We offer the same games and slots at competing properties.
The only way to gain your marketshare is to focus on customer
needs and one of the needs was they want to see more entertainment
and restaurants," Blank said.
Great Canadian has signed Vancouver-based S.L. Feldman
and Associates as talent booker. Feldman, the biggest
agency in the Canadian music industry, will also book a similar
theatre planned for Great Canadian's Coquitlam casino, which
opened in 2001 and is undergoing a $30 million expansion.
Feldman's roster includes a who's who of Canadian music, including
Diana Krall and Michael Buble. Great Canadian
is also forming an alliance with the William Morris Agency,
one of the top bookers in the U.S.
"We will be able to put on major acts that normally might
not stop in Vancouver because of the fact that with our two
venues, we may be able to have somebody play two nights and
save time and costs, where an artist may say 'I'm just not
coming for one night,' because we have the two different venues."
Blank said the Richmond theatre will open with an all-star,
week-long salute to Canadian music.
Great Canadian completed a $20 million private placement
in December to help fund further growth. The company, which
operates six B.C. casinos and four in Washington state, traded
at a high of $23.25 per share last Thursday on the TSX
Venture Exchange.
Meanwhile, the Royal Diamond/Grand joint venture is likely
to include the reopening of the 500-seat Discovery Theatre,
but don't expect Las Vegas-style glitz.
Ian Waddell, counsel for Grand's Len Libin
and Royal Diamond's Gary Jackson, said ex-Fifth
Avenue Cinemas owner Leonard Schein has proposed
using the Discovery Theatre for independent films.
Libin is moving his Grand Casino from southeast Marine Drive
in south Vancouver to join Jackson's Royal Diamond in the
new venture. Royal Diamond operated in the Plaza of Nations
complex but closed after a labour dispute. The casino, approved
by Vancouver city council in January, will employ 400 people
and bring $12 million to city coffers.
Burnaby-based Gateway Casino is planning expansion
of its own. The company wants to move its flagship casino
from the Radisson Hotel in Burnaby across the freeway to the
Still Creek area where it is proposing a 100,000-square-foot
complex on an eight-acre parcel. It would house 600 slot machines.
Gateway applied to Burnaby City less than three weeks before
launching a $62 million income fund offering in late January.
Gateway president Dave Gadhia said some of the funds
could be used for Gateway's casino redevelopments in Burnaby,
Langley, New Westminster or Edmonton.
Gateway is planning to sell its stake in the Royal City
Star river boat casino and build a casino in New Westminster's
Queensborough district. It's also planning to move the casino
at New Westminster's Royal Towers hotel to a complex in Langley.
In April 2005, a casino will open at the Fraser Downs
standardbred race track in Cloverdale. The British Columbia
Lottery Corporation has pledged an additional $2.1 million
to Vancouver's Hastings Racecourse to offer increased
purses while it waits for Vancouver city council to decide
on an application to install 600 slot machines.
BCLC administers casino gambling on behalf
of the provincial government. In fiscal 2002-2003, Kamloops-based
BCLC had $628 million in casino revenues: $374 million from
the province's 3,304 slots and $254 million from 309 tables.
BCLC forecasts casino gambling will be worth $905 million
by 2006.
Want to Play Slot Machines Online?
Play Slots Instantly! For fun or for real cash!!
Fantastic games, UP TO $500 Signup
Bonus, prompt payouts. Signup now it's FREE!
Next: Slot
Machine Types -->
|