Baltimore Takes Hard Stand On Potential Casino Investors

The city of Baltimore is playing gambling games with investors who play that game for a living. Investors were blown away by the demands of the city when they were revealed at a meeting on Wednesday.

"If it was not crazy enough that the state wants a sixty seven percent tax rate, the $36 million a year in rent that Baltimore is asking will most certainly drive away some of the top investors," said observer Timothy B. Jintle.

Back in November, voters cleared the way for 15,000 new slot machines to be added in the state of Maryland. The original idea was to bring a quarter of those machines to a casino in Baltimore. Now, it looks as though that idea may have to be altered.

The city proposed to developers and lobbyists on Wednesday that whatever company moves a casino to Baltimore, that they pay $36 million a year in rent. They also demanded that high standards be met in the building of the casino.

The current landscape of the casino market in the US has driven potential investors away in other areas of the country. In Kansas, three of the four developers who won contracts to build state owned casinos have pulled out of their deal.

Investors sat patiently and listened to the idea of the city of Baltimore, but many did not look impressed by what they heard. The city will now sit back and wait to see if they have investors on February 2nd, the day bids are due to the state commission.

January 8, 2009
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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