Corbett: Casino license for Cedar Rapids unlikely

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids mayor and GOP gubernatorial candidate Ron Corbett cast doubt Friday on whether a contentious bid for a gambling license between two competing developers will result in any license at all.

Corbett made the comments during a morning session at the Iowa Ideas conference at the DoubleTree Hotel. Following the session, in which Corbett was the featured speaker, he elaborated in an interview with The Gazette.

'I don't see it happening,” Corbett said. 'Nothing has changed. It's hard to see why we'd get a different result. I think it has less than a 50 percent chance of happening.”

Corbett said he believes none of the three proposals will be approved.

Corbett, who is in an uphill race for Iowa governor, said he has no insider information, but he draws his conclusion based on what has happened since the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission rejected a bid for a casino in 2014 by a 4-1 vote. The commission relied heavily on one piece of its criteria that studies cannibalization of surrounding casinos.

Casinos in Riverside and Waterloo would lose revenue, studies concluded.

'The criteria the commission looks at hasn't changed since three years ago,” Corbett said. 'There's no new blood on the Racing and Gaming Commission. There's the same five members. The only thing that has changed is the state's financial situation is worse today than three years ago.”

Proposals include the $40 million to $55 million 'boutique” Wild Rose Cedar Rapids on First Avenue SE adjacent the Skogman building; the $105 million to $118 million Cedar Crossing Central in a skydeck tied into the DoubleTree Hotel and U.S. Cellular Center; and the $165 million to $187 million Cedar Crossing on the River on First Street SW.

Jamie Buelt, a spokeswoman for Wild Rose, said she has no information that would corroborate what Corbett said, and declined to speculate what the future holds if the commission denies a license to all three proposals.

'We are simply focused on the process at hand,” Buelt said. 'I don't want to get ahead of our skis with comments of ‘if this, then that.' ”

State gambling regulators are slated to tour the three sites Tuesday morning, followed by a public hearing before the commission at 1 p.m. in ballroom BC at the DoubleTree, 350 First Ave. NE.

'We trust that the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission will keep an open mind when they visit Cedar Rapids for a site visit and public comment meeting on Tuesday,” said Brent Stevens, the head of Cedar Crossing developer Peninsula Pacific. 'We respect the commission's process and decision-making authority. Cedar Crossing will continue to pursue a gaming license for the benefit of the Cedar Rapids community, and believe we will ultimately prevail.”

The city of Cedar Rapids has a memorandum of understanding with Cedar Crossing backers to support their efforts - and only their efforts - for a casino. It runs through 2029. The gambling referendum that paves the way for a casino license in Linn County expires in 2021.

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com

Gazette editor Michael Chevy Castranova contributed to this report.