Gambling board gives Greektown investors extension

Wednesday, May 17, 2000 | 10:28 a.m.

The board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to give investors Ted and Maria Gatzaros and Dimitrios and Viola Papas one more month to finish a deal to sell their 40-percent stake to union pension funds and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, owner of half of Greektown.

The tribe has agreed to buy as much as 20 percent of the shares to expedite the deal, believed to be worth up to $250 million.

The gambling board's timeline is a tight one for all parties, designed to open the $150 million temporary casino by mid-August. If the deal is not completed by June 21, the board will start preparing for a public hearing, which could last as long as six months.

The couples have financial history problems considered likely to prevent them from getting licensed if they do not sell.

"I was very reluctant to vote for it, but I was fearful we would be back at square one otherwise," board member Paula Blanchard told the Detropit Free Press. She said she was sceptical the investors would be able to meet the new deadline.

The Greektown casino is the third of the three chartered Detroit casinos to open. The MGM Grand and MotorCity casinos opened last year.

To make the deadline, the two couples and eight other individual investors who own 10 percent of Greektown must form a public company to sell the shares, The Detroit News said Wednesday. It said that would allow pension funds to buy shares without facing lengthy background investigations.