Big casino on Co-op site?

[Pete]

I've been hearing the Chickasaws have shown interest in opening a large casino / hotel / resort type of property either in NE OKC or on the site of the Producers Co-op (cotton oil mills, recently put on the market for $120 million).

Remember, the Chickasaws bought Remington Park out of bankruptcy in 2009, added gaming machines and lots of other improvements and have completely turned that place around. Also, they strongly opposed a proposal by the Shawnees to build a large casino and resort a couple miles north of Remington Park on I-35.

They also recently purchased the naming rights for the Bricktown Ballpark, pumped a bunch of money into renovating Chickasaw Nations Plaza on the BT canal and have put out a great video promoting Oklahoma City.

And it seems they might want to incorporate a decent-size stadium (for soccer or maybe even expandable for future needs) into their plans.


To redevelop that Producers Co-op site, it's going to take very deep pockets and someone willing to dream/develop big.


Thoughts?

[AP]

I've been hearing the Chickasaws have shown interest in opening a large casino / hotel / resort type of property either in NE OKC or on the site of the Producers Co-op (cotton oil mills, recently put on the market for $120 million).

Remember, the Chickasaws bought Remington Park out of bankruptcy in 2009, added gaming machines and lots of other improvements and have completely turned that place around. Also, they strongly opposed a proposal by the Shawnees to build a large casino and resort a couple miles north of Remington Park on I-35.

They also recently purchased the naming rights for the Bricktown Ballpark, pumped a bunch of money into renovating Chickasaw Nations Plaza on the BT canal and have put out a great video promoting Oklahoma City.

And it seems they might want to incorporate a decent-size stadium (for soccer or maybe even expandable for future needs) into their plans.


To redevelop that Producers Co-op site, it's going to take very deep pockets and someone willing to dream/develop big.


Thoughts?

I'm not sure how I feel about the casino, but a stadium is exactly what I thought should go here. Honestly, anything would be a huge improvement. Major eyesore to downtown. When did this site get put on the market?

[Pete]

The property has been on the market for a few years now but at $120 million no one has really sniffed it.

Also, I would assume there are massive soil remediation and clean-up issues.


No way the Chickasaws would want to move forward unless they could incorporate gaming. I'm sure it's the only way to make that site even remotely feasible from an investment standpoint.

[catch22]

How can they put gaming.... If its unincorporated land?

[AP]

A casino to me is a great idea I guess, I had just never really thought about it. It would bring in a lot more visitors for downtown too, which is never a bad thing.

[warreng88]

This is the one spot I wouldn't be completely opposed to a casino going in as long as they adhear to the rules and regulations of the Bricktown Design Committee and there is a hotel, retail and restaurants attached to it. My biggest problem with the indian casinos is since they are on "sacred ground" (they call it something else, I can't remember what it is) they do not have to abide by anyone else's rules. They have the money to buy the land (although I don't think it will cost $121 million, probably more like $75 million or so) and do something with it and putting an ourdoor venue (soccer stadium) down there would be great too.

[AP]

How can they put gaming.... If its unincorporated land?

I was wondering the same.

[HangryHippo]

I've been hearing the Chickasaws have shown interest in opening a large casino / hotel / resort type of property either in NE OKC or on the site of the Producers Co-op (cotton oil mills, recently put on the market for $120 million).

Remember, the Chickasaws bought Remington Park out of bankruptcy in 2009, added gaming machines and lots of other improvements and have completely turned that place around. Also, they strongly opposed a proposal by the Shawnees to build a large casino and resort a couple miles north of Remington Park on I-35.

They also recently purchased the naming rights for the Bricktown Ballpark, pumped a bunch of money into renovating Chickasaw Nations Plaza on the BT canal and have put out a great video promoting Oklahoma City.

And it seems they might want to incorporate a decent-size stadium (for soccer or maybe even expandable for future needs) into their plans.


To redevelop that Producers Co-op site, it's going to take very deep pockets and someone willing to dream/develop big.


Thoughts?

I've been impressed by all of the projects I've seen from the Chickasaws. I'd love to see them take this site on and turn it into a resort. And if it takes gaming to make that feasible, so be it.

[HangryHippo]

How can they put gaming.... If its unincorporated land?

I believe the land would have to be put into trust. And that would be no small feat...

[bchris02]

If they are going to do a casino, they need to go big. Make it the premier casino/resort in the state. Make it something that people from surrounding states will come to OKC for rather than the bordertown casinos. Light it up at night, make it very attractive from I-40 for people passing through, but not tacky.

[Pete]

A casino could happen if the city and county (and probably the state) cooperate.

Here is a map of the area... This is a hugely critical piece of land that would tie together major development and recreation initiatives:

[lasomeday]

The city should work with them and get the salvage yard included and make it a convention center! Kill three birds with one stone..... Stadium, convention center, and convention center hotel!

[Dustin]

As an avid blackjack player, a casino would be fine by me! Especially if it's a big, grand, resort type place. Grander than Winstar.

[warreng88]

Oh and a venue much like the Global Event Center at the Winstar Casino where they will bring in big name acts who can sell out the 3,500 seat arena, but not The Peake. I am sick of OKC losing acts to The Joint in Tulsa at the Hard Rock Casino, Global Event Center in Thackerville, or any of the other casinos located less than an hour outside of the metro. I know a lot of that has to do with them willing to pay more for them to come and promotions, but the venue makes a difference as well.

[Pete]

This has been posted before but this is the video the Chickasaws put together to promote OKC. It's extremely well-done:

[Bellaboo]

Yep, it'd have the landrun monument running right into it.

[Pete]

Would be very easy to extend the canal to this property and really tie it in to Bricktown and actually create a destination for the water taxis.

This was an incredibly lame rendering used to market this property, but it at least shows the general idea:

[warreng88]

Since there would be no access to the area from I-40 from the south, I would assume that would be a good place for a larger parking garage and the soccer stadium with the casino in the middle, hotel to the east near the river walk and retail and restaurants facing the boulevard.

[AP]

What is the likelihood of any portion of this actually happening?

[Just the facts]

Gambling has done wonders for Detroit, New Orleans, Atlantic City, and Chicago, not to mention all the great walkability casinos are know for creating. This is exactly what downtown OKC needs.[/sarc]

Casinos - what you do when every other idea fails.

[adaniel]

So I guess I'll take the minority opinion and say, stadium yes, casino, absolutely not.

It would need to be put in some sort of trust status, which would be an uphill climb considering Chickasaws have no claim in this area and Mick Cornett and most of the council have opposed casinos here. But if for some reason it would, I can image a pandora's box being open with every tribe and their grandma wanting a claim in or around OKC.

More importantly, indian casinos are a giant black hole. The guidelines in place allow casinos to set up businesses within them that charge no sales tax, allowing them to compete at an unfair disadvantage with other BT establishments. Casinos themselves pay no local taxes at all actually. And the profits would be reinvested far away from OKC.

If a special process can be set up like Remington Park where a casino would operate outside the normal tribal guidelines, then I'd reconsider. For the record, I don't have a problem with competition, I do have a problem with an entirely sovereign enterprise being a leach on on the city's most successful urban districts.

[Dustin]

Oh wow. Brain fart. I just realized the location. Yeah, I'm gonna have to say no to a casino.

[Midtowner]

I don't see a Casino being a benefit to the city. And deeding downtown prime real estate into Indian trust land? No thanks.

If something like this happens, we need to roll back all of our state gambling laws. There's no good reason the tribes should be the only folks who get to profit from gambling in this state.

[Plutonic Panda]

If they are going to do a casino, they need to go big. Make it the premier casino/resort in the state. Make it something that people from surrounding states will come to OKC for rather than the bordertown casinos. Light it up at night, make it very attractive from I-40 for people passing through, but not tacky.

Agreed. A world class casino and maybe a roller coaster or something going through it would be awesome. Hopefully if they do something, it will be at least 15-20 stories high.

On edit: If the casino doesn't pay taxes then I'd say no to a casino.

[Teo9969]

Pretty much am inline with everyone else on this. Make this an equally advantageous arrangement for both parties, then I think this should be a great idea. But (1) I think it has to be the whole package and (2) The city has to play a part in the planning process and everything needs to be planned out before a sale of the property is allowed.

Honestly, if it's going to happen, I don't see the city letting the Chickasaws run rough-shod over a piece of land so close to downtown.

Also...is the producers co-op owned by OKC or a private individual?