Cedar Rapids Casino Odds Improve After Iowa Lawmakers Fold on License Moratorium

Posted on: February 5, 2025, 08:52h. 

Last updated on: February 5, 2025, 09:38h.

A Cedar Rapids casino proposed west of the downtown area across the Cedar River saw its odds of coming to fruition improve this week after state lawmakers folded on legislation that would have blocked the $275 million project.

Cedar Rapids casino moratorium Iowa
An aerial view of Cedar Rapids looking west across the Cedar River before the 2008 floods devastated the area. An effort to place a casino on the now-vacant grounds will go before the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission for a critical vote on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (Image: Shutterstock)

On Tuesday, the Senate State Government Committee decided not to move forward with legislation that would have prevented the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) from issuing additional casino concessions until at least July 1, 2030. The bill cleared the state House last week by a 68-31 vote.

Committee Chair Sen. Ken Rozenboom (R-Oskaloosa) said he tabled the statute after concluding that there wasn’t enough support in the Senate.

I am no fan of gambling, and my decision not to advance this legislation should not be considered in support of casino expansion. According to my conversations, this bill did not have enough support from Senate Republicans to advance all the way through the Senate process,” said Rozenboom.

“In the interest of moving this session forward to other issues of critical importance to Iowans, I have no plans to reconsider the legislation for the remainder of this session,” Rozenboom added.

Cedar Crossing Odds Shorten

Tuesday’s outcome was a major victory for the Cedar Rapids Development Group, a team of roughly 80 local investors partnered with Los Angeles-based Peninsula Pacific Entertainment. The consortium has applied for a gaming license with the IRGC for a venture called Cedar Crossing Casino.

Along with a casino and a range of restaurants and watering holes, including a Zach Johnson Clubhouse, the Cedar Crossing Casino is to include an events center for live entertainment, business functions, and weddings, an arts and cultural center, and a STEM Lab with its own entrance where local youth will learn about science and technology. The casino wouldn’t include a hotel, but would offer a community shuttle to connect guests to nearby lodging while also “fostering collaboration throughout the city.”

Backers say Cedar Crossing Casino “will transform downtown Cedar Rapids” with new entertainment and hospitality offerings, jobs, and tax revenue. The group has pledged to direct 8% of the casino’s annual gross gaming revenue to the Linn County Gaming Association for charitable purposes — a far higher percentage than the state-mandated 3% allocation.

Iowa Casino Market

The Cedar Crossing Casino team projects that a casino in Iowa’s second-most populated city would generate $80 million a year in new state tax revenue and provide $6 million annually in funding for local nonprofits. The casino would create over 1K construction jobs and more than 500 full-time permanent positions.

How much of those benefits would come at the cost of existing casinos will likely be a determining factor for the IRGC as it considers the Cedar Rapids casino during its meeting on Thursday, February 6. Two studies commissioned by the state gaming regulator concluded that about half of the casino revenue generated by Cedar Crossing would come from cannibalizing other properties, with Riverside Casino & Golf Resort standing to be most impacted.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said she’s “really hopeful that the commission will see the overall economic development opportunity” that will come to an area that was “decimated” by the 2008 floods.