Cordish eyes Md. casino opportunities

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - For his hometown, Jon Cordish wants to see more than just “slots in a box.”

The oldest of the fourth generation of the Cordish Company leaders, Cordish said he expects slots will be approved in virtually every state someday, including Maryland. When that happens, he said his company has found that success lies in creating an entertainment destination around the slots operation.

“That’s the challenge. Maryland has to have facilities that are more than just slot boxes — they’ll be ubiquitous in the region,” Cordish said. “For the state to realize [the profits] they want from this, it’s got to be more than just slots.”

The Cordish Company developed the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida, where Cordish said the results have been “beyond phenomenal.” The company also announced plans last fall to develop and operate a $200 million slots casino at Indiana Downs outside Indianapolis. In late November, the company announced the formation of Gomes+Cordish Gaming Management LLC to operate gaming projects in the United States and internationally.

“I think we’ve demonstrated a capability [in slots] ... and at the same time, we’re citizens of the state and have a vested interest in it,” said Cordish. “In Maryland we would operate [a casino] from a nonprofit position. This is Maryland, there’s a different set of factors, this is our hometown.”

Placing other entertainment options around slots has been effective across the nation, said Jeff Hooke, a Washington, D.C.-based investment banker who has studied plans to bring slots to Maryland. It’s the kind of project The Cordish Company has done before.

“The Seminole thing has been very successful, the Indiana project is a pretty big-budget project,” Hooke said. “Baltimore would just be a logical extension of that experience.”

The company’s previous experience might put them in the running for the proposed Baltimore City slots location, said Donald Fry, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Baltimore Committee. But Cordish would still face competition from other gaming operators.

“Certainly I know The Cordish Company has involvement in the gaming industry. It would appear from their prior experience they would meet all the qualifications laid forth in the [slots] statute,” Fry said. “[But] it’s a competitive bid process.”

acahall@baltimoreexaminer.com