Key hearing on planned Greektown casino postponed

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2000 | 8:54 a.m.

Nelson Westrin, the Michigan Gaming Control Board's executive director, told the Detroit Free Press for a story Thursday that he was postponing the March 6 hearing, though he declined to specify why. No new date was immediately set.

The delay means less tax money - perhaps as much as $5 million in taxes - for the city and state in the current fiscal year.

"We're working with the gaming control board to open as quickly as we possibly can," Greektown Casino spokesman Roger Martin said.

Las Vegas-based Park Place Entertainment and Harrah's Entertainment have signed confidentiality agreements with four Greektown Casino investors shopping their 40 percent stake.

Secrecy agreements are common among publicly traded companies to keep details of negotiations secret in the event a deal falls through.

The Greektown site is nearly finished and has been expected to open this spring. But an outside firm's purchase would delay that because the new company would have to go through the state licensing process that Westrin said could take four to 12 months.

Ted Gatzaros, his wife, Maria, and Jim Papas and his wife, Viola, own 40 percent of the casino. But investigators for the gaming control board reportedly have found deficiencies in the business backgrounds of those investors that may prevent them from securing a state license.

If the gaming board determines those two couples are not fit for a license, they cannot make money off of the sale of their stake and only could recoup their initial investment.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians - with 50 percent of the Greektown casino - is the majority partner and has the right to match any outside offer for the Papases and Gatzaroses stock.

A buyout by the tribe would mean a speedier opening, given that it already has been through the state investigation and is expected to get a license, the Free Press said.

A group of local black investors owns the remaining 10 percent interest in the casino.

MGM Grand Detroit and the MotorCity Casino opened here last year.