New Kansas City casino hopes to reshape precinct
The Isle of Capri hopes to make its riverfront establishment even more vibrant under new ownership, the Kansas City Business Journal reports.
Rhode-Island based Twin River Worldwide Holdings plans to rebuild the casino off East Front Street as Casino KC and invest $61 million into new aesthetics and features, officials shared on Monday during a Port Authority of Kansas City development committee meeting.
Twin River Worldwide Holdings hopes to “substantially reposition the casino with a transformational redevelopment plan”, with most related capital expenditures expected in 2021, the casino owner and manager announced in a recent release.
The endeavour includes reskinning the existing structure and building a new restaurant, experiential retail, a spa and an amphitheatre, Port KC documents show.
Twin River Worldwide Holdings also could consider an on-site hotel.
A site schematic shows a revamped casino lobby area, with new restaurant, bars and retail adjacent to either side, and the amphitheatre at the property’s southwest corner.
Port KC’s vice president of real estate Joe Perry described the renovations as “synergistic” with the developing Berkley Riverfront area.
“That’s exciting for all of us. We know that when the casino does better, the city and Port KC do better,” he said on Monday.
In 2018, the Kansas City Streetcar Authority noted a “potential opportunity” to extend the planned northern route a mile to the east, connecting the casino to Berkley Riverfront Park.
The Isle of Capri consists of about 40,000 square feet of casino space, with 939 gaming machines, 13 table games and two dining venues.
Figures from the Missouri Gaming Commission show that in June, the Isle of Capri had 77,100 visitors and total adjust gross revenue of $4.3 million – both the smallest among the four casinos on the Missouri side of the metro area.
On July 2, Twin River Worldwide Holdings completed its $230 million acquisition of the Isle of Capri and the Lady Luck Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi, from previous owner Eldorado Resorts.
“We believe these assets are a great fit for our portfolio and see the opportunity to increase the net cash flow from these properties with our redevelopment and operating plans,” chief executive of Twin River George Papanier said.
Eldorado divested the two assets to help reduce debt in advance of its $17.3 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment, Eldorado chief executive Tom Reeg said earlier this month.
Eldorado announced its completion of the merger Monday, creating the world’s largest casino company and folding the Caesars-owned Harrah’s North Kansas City Casino and Hotels into its portfolio.
Twin River announces new acquisitions
American casino operator Twin River Worldwide Holdings has announced that its estate now encompasses nine venues following the acquisition of a brace of riverboat properties from compatriot Eldorado Resorts.
World Casino Directory reports the New York-listed firm used an official Thursday press release to detail that it has completed the deals to purchase the Lady Luck Casino and Hotel Vicksburg with its 25,000 square foot gaming floor as well as the even larger Isle of Capri Casino Kansas City and has subsequently changed the pair’s names to Casino Vicksburg and Casino KC respectively.
Twin River Holdings Incorporated is moreover responsible for the Twin River Casino Hotel and Tiverton Casino Hotel in its home state of Rhode Island.
This is in addition to a trio of casinos in the Colorado community of Black Hawk.
The Providence-headquartered firm explained that the purchase of the Mississippi and Missouri properties was initially agreed just over a year ago for an aggregate price of around $230 million.
President and chief executive for Twin River Holdings George Papanier used the press release to release the news.
“We are very pleased to close on this transaction, the latest in our ongoing efforts to diversify our portfolio,” he said.
“Equally exciting are our three additional casinos under contract in Shreveport, Louisiana, Lake Tahoe, Nevada and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
“We see significant opportunities to create cross-marketing connections for customers at multiple locations nationwide.”
Twin River has proclaimed that Casino KC is readily accessible to suburban traffic due to being located at a premier location on the riverfront near downtown and features a 40,000 square foot gaming floor, offering a selection of 939 slots alongside 13 gaming tables.
