IOC to turn over Blackhawk;
City, IOC still negotiating casino site -QCTimes
Good news! Those of you who attended the meeting at the River Center where Restoration St. Louis presented their portfolio and some of their plans for the Blackhawk know how big of a deal this could be for downtown Davenport. I'm happy that IOC is at least moving out of the way of this potential progress.
Who knows, maybe my indoor waterpark/casino/hotel idea is still on the table?
Other than that, discuss whatever's happening in your neck of the QC.
18 comments:
That's HUGE. You may have to tone down your "IOC" is out to get us rehetoric now. :) That was a really big bargaining chip for them to just give up like that.
Perhaps they will reach a good deal with the City after all.
I'm totally sold yet either, but this does show some humanity many people thought they were lacking.
Its going to be interesting how the new developer will play with the River Center.
Maybe they will offer to manage that property as well.
I'm absolutely stunned how little people seem to care about this today. It's a microcosm of what the Quad-Cities really wants to be informed about, I guess. Sorry folks, no scandal, JUST THE BEST NEWS IN YEARS regarding the BlackHawk and the IOC's willingness to work with us.
There's nothing but good news in this story, and even the Times article is a barren of comments. This is sad. Is everyone asleep at the wheel today!?
Frozen to the wheel maybe.
Who says people don't care? Maybe they are just tired of reacting and not being listed to. With this issue in particular. Many meetings have been held and I can't tell you one idea or wish of the taxpayers here that the boat has honored. What makes it worse is that the RDA is not neutral, they are on the side of the boat. That group is supposed to be an objective oversight board, not a cheerleader and negotiator for the IOA. Maryellen has turned the RDA into something it isn't supposed to be. I just think that we all get tired of the crap.
While I think this is good for the city and the downtown, I am not going to wait in line to shake hands with the IOC. Big deal, they unloaded a money losing liability onto the taxpayers, Yeh.
The reason there are no comments is because there is nothing to complain about in the story!!! Plus, the city isn't involved in the deal at all.
Personally, I think the future of the Blackhawk is going to have more impact on our downtown than whereever the casino ends up (assuming of course that they don't pick an absolutely terrible location for the casino).
I am 5:08 and I also think the Blackhawk will be a gem for the downtown. HOw cool will it be when done. I went to the presentation and thought the developer presented a great idea to the city. I think it is a good thing overall. I went to check out the Times article and some some comments, good and bad. Coltrane I suspect is an employee of the boat or Mayellen herself perhaps. I just think that it is going a bit too far to break our arms patting the IOC on the back. Biz is biz. They have really not acted in good faith with the citizens of this great town. Come on already - s*^t or get off the pot. Perhaps the giving of the hotel to the city is the first step in its gracefull tiptoe exit from the city.
I'd suspect they're getting considerably more than a buck for the building by dealing directly with Restoration St. Louis. If that's true, its really a shame that that firm got screwed over also, but I can see how they'd rather just move forward with their plans.
I am most certainly NOT Mary Ellen - do you really think she'd have a name this cool? Just kidden.
But anyway, my point is that it's really hypocritical for us to critizise the IOC regularly, and then refuse to acknowledge when they've done something right.
They've deserved plenty of this criticism, but if you won't admit it that this was a pleasant surprise and good news for the community, than you've just gotten too bitter to even be fair about it anymore.
Coltrane - it is unfortunate, but it is hard to know whether the boat has done something right here. Maybe they have, but what I have come to learn in this town is that if it looks too good to be true, it usually is. Somewhere - somehow - there is something the matter.
Hey 5:08pm....What to explain this comment?
Big deal, they unloaded a money losing liability onto the taxpayers.
He, like many internet commenters, probably didn't read the story before giving his opinion.
All I mean is that to the IOC the Blackhawk is losing money so why not unload their liability on the taxpayers. I'm not going to thank them for that.
Why is them selling it to a different company considered giving it to "the taxpayers?" Its not going to the city; its going directly to Restoration St. Louis.
They unloaded a huge potential bargaining chip they could have used against the City, but didn't
Instead of "holding the City hostage" they gave up the piece we already have a chance to improve with another company. Even though it went directly to Restoration St. Louis, we still get the benefit of The Black Hawk moving forward, and the IOC actually has shown a "good faith" effort here by doing so.
This "good faith" part is the thing people thought they simply wouldn't do, which makes this both welcome and surprisingly good news.
I'm not claiming all of our problems are solved and the IOC is free of its issues, but whether you want to believe it or not, this was a big step in the right direction for the entire casino/blackhawk/riverfront issue.
As long as the property records show it being under "IOC Davenport," we have reason to be suspicious. I also don't believe that the Isle is giving this up out of the goodness of their hearts. They're doing what's best for them, as a corporation generally should. I would pay good money to know what their real plans are at this point.
QCI:
I agree, the Isle of Capri has put in place a part of an overall strategy. Selling the Blackhawk is a step towards their ultimate goal.
Trying to second guess the Isle’s ultimate goals are goes beyond the information available to anyone outside of their organization. Given the local gambling market, the current Davenport location will most likely be nothing more than a niche player at best. I find it a real stretch to believe that they are going to spend the money to build a new casino to compete with the other regional casinos, including their own. With Clinton Under construction and Jumers Under construction and Bettendorf recently expanded, what’s left for Davenport?
The Isle of Capri is required by contract to operate a hotel in Davenport. Malin is just plain stupid. You do not give this up in the middle things.
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