By Gadi Dechter, Julie Bykowicz and Tyeesha Dixon , gadi.dechter@baltsun.com, julie.bykowicz@baltsun.com and tyeesha.dixon@baltsun.com|February 05, 2009
The developer vying for the state's most lucrative slots license is wooing officials with visions of a billion-dollar entertainment complex at Arundel Mills that would include hotels, live entertainment venues and Maryland's largest casino - and says he has the money to pay for it.
David Cordish, president of the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., sketched out his ambitions in an interview yesterday with The Baltimore Sun, in which he portrayed his plan as the silver lining in a mostly dim response from gambling developers this week.
Bidders are seeking just over a third of the 15,000 slot machine licenses legalized last year, a number that would sharply reduce the tax revenues state officials had hoped would balance future budgets.
"You want economic stimulus? Let the state give us the ball here," said Cordish. "We'll hire a couple of thousand construction workers immediately."
Cordish, who owns a home on Gibson Island, said he might employ the company's Live! brand - as in the Inner Harbor's Power Plant Live! - to create a regional destination that could feature name-brand attractions found at other Cordish projects around the country, such as a Hard Rock-themed concert facility or NASCAR-branded restaurant.
Reaction among Anne Arundel County politicians, mall neighbors and shoppers was mixed yesterday. Neighbors who live beside the sprawling mall vowed to fight the development, while County Executive John R. Leopold predicted that a required zoning bill would pass the County Council.
Cordish is competing with the owners of Laurel Park racetrack for the exclusive license to build a casino in Anne Arundel, one of five gambling locations authorized by voters in November. Magna Entertainment Corp., the track owner, failed to submit a required fee with its application this week, seriously jeopardizing the viability of its bid.
Donald Fry, chairman of the slots commission that will select the winning bidders, said yesterday that Cordish attorneys have demanded that the state immediately disqualify Magna's offer. The commission will take up the matter next week, Fry said.
Meanwhile, Magna announced yesterday that it had placed its $28.5 million license fee in an escrow account and would release it to the commission once certain refund guarantees are made. But the director of the Maryland Lottery, the regulating agency, has said the state will not deposit money paid after Monday's deadline. Magna's announcement "doesn't change the situation," Fry said.
