Detroit Mayor Archer narrows list of casino applicants

Saturday, Aug. 23, 1997 | 9:31 a.m.

Groups left behind included those linked to a former Detroit mayoral candidate and a former Pistons player, and one that would have handed three casino licenses to a charitable trust.

The seven remaining groups include national casino operators MGM Grand, Donald Trump and Mirage Resorts; Detroit businessman Don Barden and former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young's groups; and the Atwater and Greektown groups, which have built-in preferences under the voter-approved casino law.

Archer said the seven groups stand "head and shoulders" above the others, but he declined to discuss specific reasons for eliminating four groups. Generally, he said he considered finances, projected casino jobs and casino operating experience.

"Those seven that I chose would be able to best provide the city with everything that we want," he said.

The seven groups will compete for three Detroit casino licenses that voters approved in a statewide election last fall. The groups must submit more detailed proposals to the city Sept. 26, and Archer said he will name three finalists Nov. 7.

The mayor said he is willing to place temporary casinos in the river if the three finalists want them and if city, state and federal officials concur. He said he would only place them along city-owned land, such as a former Uniroyal tire plant near Belle Isle.

Archer said riverboat casinos would be more manageable than trying to acquire land and construct buildings for land-based temporary casinos. He said he couldn't say how soon the temporary casinos could be operating.

But Archer said he remains an opponent to permanent riverboat casinos. "A temporary casino must be truly temporary," he said.

After Archer revealed his preferences in a speech, some members of eliminated groups protested.

Andrew West, chairman of NewCenturyAmerica, said he might file a lawsuit over his group's elimination. The group wanted to create a charitable trust that would let three other gambling companies build and run casinos.

"The evaluation was not done in best interest of the city, it was done in the best interests of the casino industry," West said.

Charles Costa, who ran for Detroit mayor in 1985, 1989 and 1993 and never garnered more than 4 percent of the vote, led a group called Detroit Alive Casino Inc. His group wanted to allow city residents to become majority owners of the casinos through a stock offerings.

"It is not Chuck Costa that lost here today," he said. "It is the citizens of Detroit."

Also left behind was Isle of Capri Casino-Detroit LLC, which promised a giant IMAX theater and had former Detroit Pistons player Vinnie Johnson as a partner.

Another eliminated group, Detroit, Detroit, was led by real estate developer and businessman Sam A. Danou. The group planned a $700 million project that was to include the International Trade and Conference Center.

Some surviving group members were jubilant.

"We probably got through the first three rounds of a 12-round fight," said J.D. Simpson, a president of Young's group, Paradise Valley LLC. "I'm elated and I'm happy."

Barden said he expected his selection. "Our proposal was one of the best," he said. "We have a first-class, world class proposal."