City council votes to recommend Isle of Capri for Cape casino

The Cape Girardeau City Council voted Thursday night to throw its weight behind Isle of Capri's effort to build a $125 million casino downtown, with officials afterward saying it has the potential to become "one of the largest economic development projects" in the city's history.

Citing the company's transparency, the council voted 6-1 to give Isle of Capri the "preferred developer" status, beating out St. Louis Capital Partners LLC.

City staff and council members said St. Louis-based Isle of Capri has been willing to share its plans for building the casino with them, while St. Louis Capital Partners has opted to wait to unveil its plans until it submits an application with the Missouri Gaming Commission for the state's lone available casino license.

"One company has been open and willing to completely share its plans with us," Mayor Harry Rediger said. "The other one chose not to come forth with the plan until after Sept. 1. They took a different style, which makes it difficult for us."

Only council member Debra Tracy voted against the designation, saying she wasn't comfortable picking one company over the other without seeing both sets of plans.

"I've had some questions and concerns over the process," Tracy said. "I do not agree with saying this plan is a priority for us when I don't know what the other plan is."

The rest of the roughly hourlong meeting -- with no representatives of St. Louis Capital Partners present and no public comment -- was largely devoted to Isle of Capri.

City manager Scott Meyer said the city's staff has met with Isle of Capri representatives to discuss terms for development, which have been detailed and forthright. Isle of Capri has released the most information about its plans, which include room for 1,200 people to play slot machines and table games, restaurants, a bar and a 750-seat conference and entertainment venue.

The company is proposing to build the casino on property along North Main Street owned by local businessmen Jim Riley and David Knight.

Isle of Capri has also offered incentives beyond the required fees and taxes, Meyer said, though city officials said they would not give the specifics of those incentives until council meetings in September.

Meyer said the city staff recommended making an endorsement now because the Missouri Gaming Commission has suggested it's good to "team up" with a developer to strengthen an application, rather than waiting until after the application deadline passes.

"We are in a better position if we have someone with that designation, and I believe we are getting better value for this designation than we would after Sept. 1," Meyer said.

Executives with Isle of Capri said they know there are still hurdles to overcome, with a Nov. 2 election in which the issue will be put before voters and a campaign committee organizing in opposition. Also, four other Missouri cities are vying for the license that became available after a St. Louis casino closed earlier this year.

"We have the most transparent proposal in the state of Missouri," said Paul Keller, Isle of Capri's senior vice president and chief development officer. "How do you make a $125 million investment in a community and not talk about it?"

Meanwhile, the group organizing to oppose any casino coming to Cape Girardeau filed paperwork Thursday with the county clerk's office to become an official campaign committee.

"I have no preference for one casino or the other," said Doug Austin, spokesman for Quality of Life in Cape Girardeau. "My objective is to persuade voters to defeat a casino coming to Cape Girardeau. We think Cape Girardeau is a wonderful place just as it is and a casino isn't going to do anything to improve our community."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO