DETROIT (AP) - Greektown Casino-Hotel in downtown Detroit plans to scale back a $150 million renovation plan to work totaling $25 million to $50 million.
The update, more than a year after Cleveland Cavaliers owner and Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert took control of the casino, comes in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by his Athens Acquisitions LLC, The Detroit News reported (https://bit.ly/1pe1O6F ).
Improvements by the second half of 2015 are to include new slot machines, carpets, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning work. Jennifer Kulczycki, a spokeswoman for Gilbert’s Rock Ventures, said that the initial plan for renovating the casino was “pretty robust.”
“The feedback from analysts and our own analysis led us to re-evaluate,” she said. “Our ownership of this place is new, let’s do these things that are really important and will make an immediate impact … and let’s evaluate these broader things to see if they make sense.”
Alex Calderone, a casino restructuring expert with Birmingham-based Calderone Advisory Group LLC, said Detroit’s gambling market is saturated. The city’s three casinos have seen increased competition from Ohio casinos as well nearby Windsor, Ontario.
“I just think we’re in a mature market,” Calderone said.
Greektown is the smallest of the three Detroit casinos by revenue, at 24 percent of the market.
___
Online:
https://www.greektowncasino.com
___
Information from: The Detroit News, https://detnews.com/
Please read our comment policy before commenting.