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CanCan Casino and Resort promises to be the centrepiece of Mississippi redevelopment following a spate of natural- and man-made disasters. Casino International speaks with George Toth to find out the details…
The CanCan Casino is part of an ambitious development in a part of the US that has suffered nothing but hard times in recent years – Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil disaster – and in 2011 the state was hit by horrendous flooding. But investment is ready and waiting, and part of the recovery plan is in the CanCan Casino. President and CEO of CanCan Casino and Resort George Toth told Casino International about the plan…
Casino International: George, last time we spoke you were at the Mount Airy Casino in Pennsylvania – why the change?
George Toth: Well, I went from cold weather to nice moderate warm weather! The move came about because of the opportunity to build a new project in an area that is very appealing to me – it’s a really beautiful area, still in the process of rebuilding itself after Hurricane Katrina, and the BP oil spill. It was a great opportunity to take charge of a project and see if we could get it done.
CI: Has the development broken ground yet?
GT: Not yet. We’re still in the process of getting all the equity and debt funding together working with Cantor Fitzgerald to get the complete package. It’s taking us a little longer than we thought. It’s looking very positive though.
CI: I know Mississippi was well supplied with gaming before Katrina arrived, with Riverboats and other gaming creating a healthy industry. Katrina was obviously devastating; was D’Iberville, where the CanCan will be, badly affected?
GT: It was devastated. We are the cornerstone of rebuilding what they’re calling the Entertainment Zone, a 200-acre area of which we will be occupying about 18 acres as they get this section of the town rebuilt.
CI: What will be in that 18 acres? That’s quite a large site.
GT: Eighteen acres is a good-sized site; we’ll have two hotels, one on top of the casino itself and one freestanding French-motif design hotel. There will be 550 rooms in total, with 250 above the casino and 300 in the standalone. We’ll have 100,000 square feet of retail space, with dining and entertainment venues. The shopping will be an outside promenade, with facades to remind you of being in a French village; the hotel will have that same feel. Both hotels will be four-star quality. We also have a freestanding, non-denominational wedding chapel. After the storm there were not many places to get married here, so that will be providing an important service – and of course we can provide the reception on the property.
We’ll have a 2,000-space garage too. It’s a good-sized project.
CI: What about the casino gaming area?
GT: It’s a 60,000 square foot casino, with 46 table games, plus 16 poker tables and 1,800 slots.
CI: What will the city be putting in the remaining 180+ acres around you?
GT: Well, in the Entertainment Zone, we know there will be an aquarium, probably some other hotels – it’s still in the early stages right now though.
CI: The impression we got post-Katrina was that the area affected was quite poor in terms of salary level. In terms of staffing, both when building and when it’s up and running, will you be employing many locals?
GT: We expect to hire local employees, and also because there will be 1500 to 2000 jobs, we hope that people who were here before the storm and haven’t perhaps returned yet, will have the opportunity to move back.
CI: Will this be a destination resort, or is it aiming for a locals market?
GT: We think this will be a destination. We feel that with the addition of all that retail space, choice of hotel and the overall design, we will be a destination resort. We’ll get people from other properties too, thanks to that unique 100,000 square foot promenade, the village feel and look.
CI: Is there any kind of civic responsibilities as part of the license?
GT: There is nothing in place in Mississippi that says we have to be good citizens, but we want to be the very best citizens here. We’re going to be very active with the local community; we’re the only casino in D’Iberville, so we’ll adopt the city and it will adopt us in terms of civic pride, and our employees. We have a great relationship with both the city and the state, and I expect that to only get better.
CI: Is this the first time you’ve been involved in a project from breaking ground? Even with all of your experience in gaming, this must be full of new experiences.
GT: It’s new to me in the sense that it is totally ground-up, but early on in my gaming career I was a Director of Construction and Facilities. You start with understanding the area and who your customer can be; can we make an attraction here that people will come to? You design it so that it is going to be exciting and they will come, it will be a destination, and then work your way through the process. There’s a lot of good people on our team, though it’s not a large team yet. There are people on our team that have been involved in major developments before. We’ve got the right top-level team to do this.
CI: How much input have you had personally in the project?
GT: I got here late in 2010, the project has been in some stage of development for over 18 months. It’s been accelerated somewhat in the eight or nine months I have been on the project. Under my direction, we’re using SOSH Architects, specifically Nory Hazaveh on the project. It’s a beautiful, exciting project, unlike anything else down here in the South East of America. Not because of its size, but because of its uniqueness, this would sit well in Las Vegas.
CI: You’re quite close to a couple of large population centres – are there plans for any Atlantic-City-to-New-York-style transport links to nearby cities?
GT: We’re working with the city and the state for a transportation centre to be part of the development. It’s not finalised yet, but we’re working on it.
The Gulf Coast had 10 casinos, but now they have been rebuilt on land after the storm but they have to be within 800 feet of the water. We and they will draw currently from Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, so there’s plenty to draw from. The weather here is moderate year-round, and there are 12 golf courses built by top designers in the area too; the region is a destination in itself, it’s just been a little slow in redeveloping after the storm.
CI: When do you anticipate being open?
GT: We’re hoping to build through 2012 and open perhaps in the third quarter of 2013. The pace has picked up lately, the designs have really moved along, and we’ve formed this great relationship to put the debt and equity in place, so things are happening.
CI: You mentioned 12 golf courses in the area, and your last job was at the Mount Airy Casino – which is well known for its golf course. Is this a coincidence?
GT: I love golf but I can’t say I came here for the golf or they’ll think I’m not working!
