Discuss Detroit » Archives - July 2007 » Greektown Casino/Hotel renderings « Previous Next »
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Hardhat
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Username: Hardhat

Post Number: 209
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't think these have been posted yet. If they have been, go ahead and start throwing eggs and I'll run for cover.
Here are renderings of the new Greektown Casino and Hotel. Below is the text of the press release from the Chippewa Tribe. Here is the link.
http://www.saulttribe.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=364&Itemid=2



Thursday, 12 July 2007
Construction Begins on Permanent Greektown Casino
Written by Roger Martin

DETROIT — Construction began today on the permanent Greektown Casino resort, with completion of the new 3,100-space parking garage scheduled for mid 2007 and the new 400-room hotel and gaming floor expansion by mid 2008.

City of Detroit leaders joined with Greektown Casino owners and managers at a "Building Bashing" ceremony to mark the start of construction. They watched as heavy construction equipment began demolishing the aging parking garage and apartment building that currently occupy the land at Monroe and I-375 where the new casino garage and hotel are

In addition to the new hotel and parking garage, the permanent Greektown Casino complex will include a 25,000-square-foot gaming floor expansion (increasing the gaming floor to 100,000 square feet), a 1,500-seat entertainment theater, meeting and convention room space, a spa and additional restaurants. The hotel and garage will connect to the casino via moving and elevated walkways.

The total project budget is $475 million, which includes $275 million already invested in the current Greektown Casino and $200 million for the new hotel, parking garage and gaming floor expansion.

"With this groundbreaking, we celebrate more jobs and revenues for Detroit and our state, the start of a magnificent new resort destination in the heart of Detroit, and additional resources to support programs and services for members of the Sault Tribe," said Aaron Payment, chairperson of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, owners of Greektown Casino.
The permanent casino-resort will be located in Greektown, downtown Detroit's most popular entertainment district. The casino resort is within easy walking distance from Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, and Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers.

"This is a significant day for the City of Detroit and an historic moment for Greektown Casino," said Marvin Beatty, a local Greektown Casino investor. "The permanent Greektown Casino resort will be a world-class destination that will attract more visitors to Detroit and the Greektown District, create more jobs, and generate more revenues for the city and for public schools across Michigan."

Located at 555 E. Lafayette Avenue, Greektown Casino features nearly 2,400 slot machines and 92 table games in 75,000 square feet of luxurious Mediterranean-themed gaming space.

Greektown Casino continues to set the gaming standard in Michigan and remains the industry's leader in implementing technology to improve guest service. Greektown is home to the city's first and largest live poker room, and was the first Detroit casino to implement coinless slot machines and Ticket-in, Ticket-out redemption stations — keeping the casino on the cutting edge of gaming entertainment and customer service technologies.

Greektown Casino opened on Nov. 10, 2000. For five consecutive years, readers of The Detroit News voted Greektown Casino Michigan's "Best Casino." Detroit Free Press readers have also consistently named Greektown as the city's "Best Casino."

In addition to being named "Best Casino," Greektown Casino also placed first in other categories in The News' reader survey, including "Best Slots," "Best Wait Staff Outfits," "Best Craps Tables," "Best Blackjack Tables," "Best High Rollers Area," "Best Casino Restaurant," and "Best Casino Entertainment."






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Mattric43
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Username: Mattric43

Post Number: 165
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't think the bottom one has been posted.But the top one . . Here come the eggs. lol

Thanks for the update info!!

Wait! Wait! Wait! Wasn't the apartment and ALL of the parking garage destroyed like last year?

(Message edited by Mattric43 on July 12, 2007)
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Civilprotectionunit4346
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Username: Civilprotectionunit4346

Post Number: 223
Registered: 06-2007
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I can hear the war drums beating now....
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 4806
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Hardhat!

Most of what is mentioned on their website has already been discussed here on another thread. But that image of the casino building expanding over the westbound lanes of Lafayette has not been seen here before (to my knowledge). It seems to do what MotorCity Casino is doing, melding old architectural styles with new ones.

But there's that damn carport roof again! :-)
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Mattric43
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Username: Mattric43

Post Number: 166
Registered: 03-2006
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 3:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

You guys are too damn funny!!
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Kslice
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Username: Kslice

Post Number: 100
Registered: 04-2007
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 4:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That Casinos gonna be bigger than all of f-ing Greektown!!!
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5781
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 4:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'm pretty sure the rendering of the hotel is actually and older version, and the one of Rossetti's website is the version being built. I'm also pretty sure I've seen the casino rendering, before, too, but it was quite some time ago.

EDIT: This page was written, if you look closely, on 09 June 2006, that is why this looks SO familiar.
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Billk
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Username: Billk

Post Number: 40
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 5:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, that is an old press release.
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Quozl
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Username: Quozl

Post Number: 896
Registered: 07-2005
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 6:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

That is great news, Supersport should feel pretty secure in his loading dock job there in the event the DPD Recruiter reads his blog and decide not to offer him a position on the force!
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93typhoon
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Username: 93typhoon

Post Number: 31
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 6:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Those are the same renderings that are on the fences outside of the construction site, I walked by yesterday.
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Eboyer
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Username: Eboyer

Post Number: 25
Registered: 01-2007
Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 9:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No, the top rendering of the hotel is most definitely wrong. This will NOT be the final design of the hotel. Look again at the posters on the fences, the building is different.
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Andylinn
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Username: Andylinn

Post Number: 438
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 - 10:45 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

still the best looking most "urban" casino... they best have some retail, though i'm not holding my breath... the fact that detroit didn't hold ALL of the casinos to a higher standard keeps me up at night (well, not really, but it should)
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Detroitstar
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Username: Detroitstar

Post Number: 731
Registered: 01-2006
Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 - 7:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There is plenty of retail hosted by Greektown Casino in the block of the existing casino. If I was a business owner there is no way that I would open up on the block where the garages--that is a dead end as far as foot traffic is concerned.
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Ramcharger
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Username: Ramcharger

Post Number: 362
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 - 9:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

With a little imagination and money, Greektown Casino could have really created an exciting extension to Greektown. They could have built ground floor retail with wide sidewalks suitable for sidewalk cafes. I’ve been to lots of sidewalk cafes with worse views than a beautiful 19th century church. They could also have built three or four floors of balconied hotel rooms above the retail space. That would have added some excitement to the street scene and might have prompted the Greek Church to develop the parcel they own along Monroe. Instead, because we are saddled with the cheapest gaming company in the world, we are stuck with a dead block!

Andylinn, I agree that all the casinos could have done much better. None of them has come anywhere close to meeting the promises they made during the bidding process. I lay the blame for this squarely on the Kilpatrick administration. Why he let them shortchange Detroit is anybody’s guess.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5789
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 - 10:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If you're to blame city government for this, and they did not hold the casinos to their promises, it is the city council and planning commissions that you should place the blame with, the ones actually involved in reviewing and approving the casino plans, not the executive. Actually, the mayor's office did a lot in getting the casinos off the riverfront, something I could never understand why Archer was pushing so hard for.

(Message edited by lmichigan on July 13, 2007)
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 4824
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Friday, July 13, 2007 - 10:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually after the riverfront deal fell thru, it was Archer that let the casinos build where they wanted to.

All Kilpatrick did was let Greektown change their site from Gratiot/I-375 back to their temporary (but expanded) site and purchase the existing parking structure (and apartment building) that was torn down for the casino hotel/parking.

And it was the City Counci/Planning Commission during Kilpatricks first term that OKed the MGM and MotorCity sites and plans, if I remember correctly.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5792
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 12:07 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yes, it's the planning commission and city council that ultimately approve these things. How could anyone place the blame "squarely on the Kilpatrick administration" for how these turned out? You can't, with any kind of legitimacy or validity, even place most of the blame on the executive's office.
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Ramcharger
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Username: Ramcharger

Post Number: 363
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 12:36 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It was the mayor’s office that renegotiated the development agreements with the casinos after the rivertown debacle. Because of those agreements the casinos were allowed to downsize their hotels. Those agreements also allowed Motor City and Greektown Casinos to expand their temporary facilities (something Mayor Archer was very much opposed to) instead of building new facilities like MGM. Because of those renegotiated agreements, the city lost nearly one billion dollars in new investment and hundreds of potential jobs. I don’t think the planning commission was involved in the negotiations with the casinos and besides isn’t it part of the Executive branch of city government anyway? As for the City Council, they only approve or disapprove the agreements that come before them. They don’t negotiate development agreements.

(Message edited by Ramcharger on July 14, 2007)
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 4826
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Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 1:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ramcharger, I agree with you on the lost billion in new investments. But somehow one feels less regret in the case of Greektown (since it's the only casino that won't be a standalone fortress) than I do for MotorCity, which will be the temporary casino plus additions and still be a standalone fortress. They got away cheap.

Really only MGM is doing basically what Mayor Archer originally planned, although with a smaller hotel.

That begs the question that 3rdworldcity mentioned before about the fact that since MGM is spending more on their casino than the others, it will receive some extra perks (such as using the Temporary Casino as a Casino annex after the permanent casino opens). I haven't heard any other comments remotely like that on this forum.

But their Return on Investment will be at a disadvantage with a bigger mortgage to pay off than either MotorCity or Greektown. So was 3WC privy to some extra perks that MGM is getting that we're not generally aware of?
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5793
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 1:44 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Question, did the original agreements legally bind the casinos to build anything greater than what the casinos could decide the market could handle? If not, what (if any) kind of leverage did any future executive have to hold them to, essentially, a gentlemen's agreement? It would appear to me that if there was one party with any kind of leverage left (on the city's end), it would have been the city council. And, even then the best they could have done was drag out process with legal challenges until the city broke. It seems to me that if there is fault with anything, it is the original agreement if it was legally non-binding to an extent.

(Message edited by lmichigan on July 14, 2007)
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Ramcharger
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Username: Ramcharger

Post Number: 364
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 7:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The answer is yes. The original agreements negotiated by Mayor Archer set certain requirements the casinos were to meet, irrespective of market conditions, in exchange for being awarded one of the three available licenses. They were legally binding until they were superseded by new agreements negotiated by Mayor Kilpatrick.
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Emu_steve
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Username: Emu_steve

Post Number: 409
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 10:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't want to get this thread off track, but does the forum believe that not building the casinos on the riverfront was a blessing in disguise?

What would they done to the river front versus the riverwalk? housing?

Would those casinos had almost killed the riverwalk???
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Chow
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Username: Chow

Post Number: 389
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 10:29 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

i would say that it is the consensus here steve.
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Thejesus
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Username: Thejesus

Post Number: 1610
Registered: 06-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 10:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"they best have some retail, though i'm not holding my breath"

it's pointless to build retail space if you can't fill it...there's too much empty retail space already...just look at Opera House garage
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Ramcharger
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Username: Ramcharger

Post Number: 365
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 2:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Would those casinos had almost killed the riverwalk???


Absolutely not, the casinos in Atlantic City saved their boardwalk. The casinos were to be located north of Atwater. The Riverwalk would have flourished with the added investment. Casinos have a vested interested in making their properties and the areas around them as attractive as possible. Unlike the new condominium developments now planned for the east riverfront, casinos are open to the public. Had the casinos been built along the riverfront, anyone with the price of a hotel room could have enjoyed a beautiful river view for a day. Now, only the people who can afford a pricey condo will have that privilege.

quote:

it's pointless to build retail space if you can't fill it...


Casinos have the money to subsidize ventures, such as hotels and retail, which might not be able to make it on their own. That was one of the reasons voters elected to permit casinos to operate in Detroit in the first place.

(Message edited by Ramcharger on July 14, 2007)
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5795
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 4:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

I don't want to get this thread off track, but does the forum believe that not building the casinos on the riverfront was a blessing in disguise?



That's how many see it, including myself. What you'd have got was he tearing up of the street grid for the superblocks one right after the other. That includes the casinos plus all of the parking they'd have needed and other supporting structures. I wouldn't say it would have destroyed the riverwalk, but it would have destroyed any chance for any kind of neighborhood/village to develop in the area like what can happen know keeping the tight street grid. Yes, most do see it as a blessing in disguise.
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Ramcharger
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Username: Ramcharger

Post Number: 367
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 5:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I liked the idea of a casino district. There is a greater chance of attracting outstate gamblers with that type of development. I don’t think the east riverfront was the right place however. The west riverfront would have been the better choice. There were fewer landowners, so it would have been much easier to acquire the property and it wouldn’t have disrupted an existing neighborhood.
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Emu_steve
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Username: Emu_steve

Post Number: 410
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 5:18 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What I think might have happened is that speculators would have bid up the price of adjacent land immensely and then we'd hope they built something of enduring value there.

Might have ended up with a bunch of RedRoof Inns, etc. charging 1/2 the price of a casino hotel room.

Might have gotten pretty tacky.
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Lmichigan
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Username: Lmichigan

Post Number: 5796
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007 - 6:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ramcharger, with that I can agree. The west riverfront is a place I wouldn't have minded seeing an entertainment/casino districts on the waterfront as it wouldn't have much disrupted the street grid or any existing neighborhood.

Steve, that's what happened on the East Riverfront from what I understand.

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