Cedar Rapids Casino Court Case to Determine Fate of $275 Million Project Begins May 7

Posted on: April 21, 2025, 09:40h. 

Last updated on: April 21, 2025, 09:48h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • The lawsuit challenging the Cedar Rapids casino begins May 7
  • The case was initially slated to begin this month
  • Iowa gaming regulators have approved Cedar Crossing Casino, a $275 million investment

Opening arguments regarding a $275 million casino planned for Iowa’s Cedar Rapids will begin May 7.

Cedar Rapids casino Riverside Iowa
The Cedar Crossing Casino & Entertainment Center blueprint. The court case to determine if the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission had the authority to authorize the Cedar Rapids casino begins May 7. (Image: CRDG)

Parties from Elite Casino Resorts, the Iowa-based gaming firm that owns and operates the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, and California-based Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) and Cedar Rapids Development Group (CRDG), plan to begin making their case as to why a local Linn County ballot question in 2021 did or did not authorize the construction of a casino property.

Plaintiff Elite argues that the 2021 referendum only extended forms of gambling that county voters authorized in 2013. But since no retail slot machines, table games, or sports betting have operated in Linn County since 2013, Elite attorneys allege that the 2021 referendum didn’t initiate casino gambling.

Counsel with P2E and CRDG defended that the 2021 referendum continued the 2013 authorization of casino games.

Referendum Text

The Iowa Code provides the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) with the authority to grant gaming licenses to counties where the electorate approves gambling games through two referendums. The second referendum is to ask voters to approve or defeat “gambling games.”

In 2021, the ballot question approved by Linn County asked voters if the “operation of gambling games with no wager or loss limits may continue.”

There have never been licensed gambling games in Linn County. Accordingly, there were no games that the voters could authorize to ‘continue,'” the Riverside petition contends.

In its pretrial response, P2E and CRDG attorneys allege that Elite has brought a frivolous challenge simply because its Riverside Casino stands to be most negatively impacted by a casino in Cedar Rapids. Riverside is about 35 air miles south of where the IRGC has approved the $275 million Cedar Crossing Casino & Entertainment Center.

A party’s grievance over a shift in market competition is not a cognizable legal right under Iowa law,” the defendants’ response read. They added that the Riverside complaint is “untimely, legally baseless, and motivated by competitive interests.”

Cedar Crossing Casino is planned for a vacant plot of land on the western bank of the Cedar River along 1st St. NW between F and I Aves. Along with 700 slots, 22 tables, and a sportsbook, the casino plan includes three restaurants, a 1,500-seat concert hall, an arts and cultural center, and a STEM lab.

Judge Cautions Construction 

P2E and CRDG are in the early site planning stages of Cedar Crossing. 8th Judicial District Judge Michael Schilling cautioned the developers that beginning construction won’t influence his decision and warned them in his order denying their stay that the 2021 referendum language on its face does seem to suggest that a gaming facility was already operating within Linn County.

“The court notes that the Respondents’ decision to move forward, to begin and continue construction in the face of a lawsuit, is not a factor for the court to consider when evaluating the merits of the Petitioners’ claims,” Schilling wrote. “Nor is a decision to forge ahead with construction a defense to a defective ballot measure.”