Hard Rock developer withdraws casino bid at Kansas Speedway - Kansas City Business Journal:

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, a joint venture between and , said in a releases Friday that when the state reopens bidding, it intends to reapply to build the $400 milliomn Hard Rock-branded casino. The developer requested a refund ofthe $25 millionb privilege fee it paid last year, and the Kansas Lottert is processing the refund, the state said in a In a letter to Ed Van Petten, executivw director of the Kansas Lottery, Kansaas Entertainment executive Joseph Weinberg wrote that changinfg economic conditions require “the flexibility potentially to phasde in” the nongaming retail and hotel amenities in case the financial markets don’t recover soon.
“We recognizre that the potential phasing we now require is not permittedf within ourexisting agreement,” he wrote. “Wwe remain fully committed to the opportunitg to bringa first-class casino development to the stat e and Wyandotte County, alonvg with seeking the realignment of a second NASCAR Sprin Cup race and the constructiob of a road course at the Kansas Speedway.” Van Pettenh said in the release that the casino developer’ s withdrawal “is another unfortunate result of the worldwide crisis that has plaguecd the financial markets and hit the gaming industrgy especially hard.
” “We are confident that we can and will find a manage to develop a destination casino in Wyandotte County,” Van Pettenn said. The will discuss reopening bids in the Southh Central and Northeast zones when itmeets Dec. 11. In an interview Friday, Van Petten said the lotter y will recommend that the commission adopt essentially the same proceduresx for the first contractf award and publish the recommended procedures in theKansads Register, the official state paper, on Jan. 1, with a 90-dag application period, making the application deadlineApril 1.
Van Pettehn said the lottery needed to know how much more time the developerss need for the components of the project other than the Weinberg said inan e-mail that the casinop and “significant retail and entertainmen venues” would be completed earlier than orginally planned. “The additional components would be addex as soon as financing markets allowfor them,” Weinberg Weinberg said the project’s scope and cost won’ t change under the new application. Kansas Entertainmentf is the third developer to pull out of deald for casinos in Kansassincse September, Van Petten said.
withdresw its application for a casino in the Southeasttgaming zone, and Sumner Entertainment pulled out of its deal for the South Centra l Zone, he said. Penn National cited competition from a newl y opened casino on the Oklahoma line adjacent to its VanPetten said. Sumner cited economic Kansas Entertainment from theon 19. The overall project is estimated tocost $705.6 millionb and would overlook turn two of the The first phase, which was scheduleed to open sometime in would have about 3,000 slot machinezs and 100 gaming and would operate duringv construction of the overall casino-hotel-entertainment complex.
When completed, the Hard Rock casini is to includea 300-room luxurg hotel, including 50 3,000 slot machines and 140 gaming tables; 275,000 square feet of dining and entertainment space, including a live music venue and a destinatiom spa and fitness center with an indoor/outdoot pool; and 100,000 square feet of meeting and conventionm facilities.