Cordish invests $270 million! Groundbreaking ceremony held for Louisiana casino hotel in Bossier City
The Cordish Company will be featured on Live! Breaking ground! Casino & Hotel Louisiana December 13, 11:00 a.m. local time.
Cordish enters Louisiana, its third commercial gaming state. Officials live! The casino operator said it will spend $270 million to redevelop the former DiamondJacks Casino Resort in Bossier City, which it acquired from Foundation Gaming earlier this fall.
Cordish’s $270 million investment does not include the undisclosed purchase price of DiamondJacks and its gaming license.
Cordish plans to build a new land-based casino and renovate its 500-room hotel. The project also includes 25,000 square feet of customizable event space and numerous dining options.
Cordish says live! The Louisiana Casino and Hotel is expected to generate more than $35 million in gaming taxes for Bossier City and more than $168 million for the state in its first five years of operation. The resort is expected to employ 750 permanent positions and provide contracting opportunities for local minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses.
Cordish Chairman David Cordish and Cordish Gaming Group and Live! Casino President Rob Norton will attend the Dec. 13 groundbreaking ceremony. The company plans to open the Louisiana resort in early 2025.
The first land-based casino on the market
In 2018, Louisiana lawmakers changed the state's gambling laws to allow riverboats to travel inland within 1,200 feet of the original barge. The changes to the casino came in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and several other severe hurricanes and tropical storms that caused extensive damage to river vessels, with some even being struck and thrown ashore by the weather event.
Prior to the 2018 changes, Harrah's New Orleans was the only brick-and-mortar casino in Louisiana. The newly remodeled Baton Rouge Queen opened earlier this year as its second brick-and-mortar casino after a $200 million renovation.
Cordish will bring the first brick-and-mortar casino to the Shreveport/Bossier City market. live! The Louisiana Casino Hotel will be built directly off U.S. Highway 71 and Interstate 20, approximately 20 miles from the Texas border and approximately 40 miles from the Arkansas border.
Cordish's portfolio of games is currently listed supported by Live! The Maryland Casino and Hotel is located in Anne Arundel County near Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Cordish also manages the Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia in the city's Stadium District, as well as the so-called "mini-casino" Live! Casino Pittsburgh in the Pittsburgh suburb of Westmoreland.
The Legend of Diamond Jack
DiamondJacks is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then-owner Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) decided to permanently close the aging riverboat in order to relocate the Louisiana gaming franchise to a more attractive market.
P2E proposed building a $325 million casino resort in Slidell to St. Tammany Parish residents, but local voters rejected the project in a December 2021 local referendum. P2E then decided to sell DiamondJacks to Foundation, a Mississippi gambling company, which in turn sold it to Cordish.
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Source: www.casino.org
