Its a possibility that Phillips will be the new site of the MGM Casino thats coming to Atlanta

[Randy]

Why not locate it next to Underground in the Old World of Coke space?  Might give some life to Underground.  (I haven't been down there in a few years, so I'm not sure what's all there now.)

[Dejay]

Why not locate it next to Underground in the Old World of Coke space? Might give some life to Underground. (I haven't been down there in a few years, so I'm not sure what's all there now.)

Don't worry, Randy. I work downtown and I can tell you that you aren't missing anything.

I think if/when gambling is passed, the entire way downtown looks will change because I seriously doubt that just one casino would arrive in town. I see a fleet of casino developers making their way here to stake their claim. If the Hawks move to the Civic Center site and Time Warner abandons the CNN Center (both possibilities), you have those two properties, along with Underground and the gulch to build upon. I have a feeling that those casino folks know this already and so does City Hall. I can see MGM turning Philips and the CNN Center into a massive casino and another developer who missed out on that one turning Underground, the Railroad Depot, and the old World of Coke next to it into another casino/hotel. That would all but put GDOT into a 'put up or shut up' position in terms of developing the gulch into a mass transit hub; the same mass transit hub they've been talking about for well over a decade. And with the additional foot traffic being generated from these locations, they'll have to move, if not, just to keep another developer from snatching that away...

[atlhawks1]

In today's AJC:

 

http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/07/29/david-ralston-open-to-debate-on-casino-gambling-but-wont-endorse-it/

 

David Ralston ‘open’ to debate on casino gambling, but won’t endorse it

  July 29, 2015 

  

House Speaker David Ralston, center, at a press conference earlier this year. Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com

 

House Speaker David Ralston is open to, if wary of, the coming debate over legalizing casino gambling in Georgia.

But he also offers the reminder that the discussion over horse-racing, uncoupled from casinos this past legislative session, has already made some inroads among skeptical lawmakers. Said Ralston on Tuesday:

 

A study committee meeting this year is tasked with investigating, but it sets up a prickly problem. The Georgia Horse Racing Coalition and other backers of pari-mutuel wagering will have to decide whether to ally with MGM and other casino magnates bursting onto the scene or to go it alone.

“There’s been a lot of interest in pari-mutuel betting in the House for a number of years now, and some people have the view for that to be successful you have to have casinos to supplement them. I don’t have the answer to that … In my view, it comes out of the whole horse-racing discussion. There seems to be a split of opinion about whether horse racing, standing alone, can be financially viable or whether you need both.”

Ralston, for one, said he’s “open to positive ideas,” but that it’s early yet. “I’m not advocating for it,” he hastened to add.

***

Edited July 29, 2015 by atlhawks1

[atlhawks1]

Don't worry, Randy. I work downtown and I can tell you that you aren't missing anything.

I think if/when gambling is passed, the entire way downtown looks will change because I seriously doubt that just one casino would arrive in town. I see a fleet of casino developers making their way here to stake their claim. If the Hawks move to the Civic Center site and Time Warner abandons the CNN Center (both possibilities), you have those two properties, along with Underground and the gulch to build upon. I have a feeling that those casino folks know this already and so does City Hall. I can see MGM turning Philips and the CNN Center into a massive casino and another developer who missed out on that one turning Underground, the Railroad Depot, and the old World of Coke next to it into another casino/hotel. That would all but put GDOT into a 'put up or shut up' position in terms of developing the gulch into a mass transit hub; the same mass transit hub they've been talking about for well over a decade. And with the additional foot traffic being generated from these locations, they'll have to move, if not, just to keep another developer from snatching that away...

 

Oh yes, its all shaping up. I just dropped a article from the AJC today in which they mentioned the possibility of tying horse racing to the casino's. I had forgotten all about the horse racing. I know Turner Field is the first option for the horse racing. Once this all comes together, like i said, its a WRAP............

 

ATLANTA VICE:

 

 

[Guest]

Oh yes, its all shaping up. I just dropped a article from the AJC today in which they mentioned the possibility of tying horse racing to the casino's. I had forgotten all about the horse racing. I know Turner Field is the first option for the horse racing. Once this all comes together, like i said, its a WRAP............

 

ATLANTA VICE:

 

 

 

 Don't know about you, but I just rolled up my suit sleeves and slicked back my jheri curl.

[Plainview1981]

This is the Bible Belt but....... The almighty dollar will win out eventually. Probably the same with marihuana sales too because of the revenue it'll bring the state.

 

Gambling, pot and prostitution should be made legal.

 

Government needs to stop telling people what they can and can't spend their money on. We also need to stop jailing people for victim less "crimes" like these.

[mrhonline]

If Reed loses the Braves but gains a Casino he may end up winning in a lot of people's eyes. 

 

$$-wise, lots of people ride the casino provided bus up to Cherokee  and gamble anyway

Wait, people take a bus from Atlanta to Cherokee just to gamble? All those years of living an hour from the casino and I never knew that anyone other than a few local drunks went...

[lethalweapon3]

Wait, people take a bus from Atlanta to Cherokee just to gamble? All those years of living an hour from the casino and I never knew that anyone other than a few local drunks went...

 

(For entertainment purposes ONLY...)

 

http://skylinkexp.com/id2.html

http://www.greatimegetaways.net/id2.html

https://www.caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee/hotel/bus-line-runs

 

~lw3

Edited July 30, 2015 by lethalweapon3

[atlhawks1]

Why casino fever has spread to Turner Field

  July 29, 2015 

 

  

 

The Hank Aaron statue at Turner field. Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com

Player by player, the Braves are abandoning Turner Field. If the Great Slimming continues apace, by the end of next season the team should be able to make its final exit from the stadium with a single flip of the turnstile.

And yet Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed thinks the price of the soon-to-be-vacant playing field and 70 surrounding acres may have just jumped. You might call it a case of MGM fever, but there’s more to it than that.

The mayor’s real estate remarks last week were a burst of what might be called premeditated spontaneity.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Kent D. Johnson, kdjohnson@ajc.com

Politicians generally put great store in the dog-and-pony press conferences they call. The official reason for summoning reporters to City Hall last week was a $40.5 million facelift for Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The charts were there. The council members were there.

But after the mayoral spiel, not a single journalist wanted to pursue the topic of MLK Drive. And Reed wasn’t a bit displeased.

The mayor ducked an inquiry about Confederate symbolism. And then came the pitch he’d been sitting on: What about Turner Field?

“Since the MGM announcement around the Georgia Dome, we have gotten two to four requests for meetings, to have a conversation about buying the Turner Field parcel,” Reed said. All were from MGM competitors – domestic and international.

Only three days before, news had surfaced that MGM Resorts International, sensing a shift in the state Capitol, is preparing a 2016 push to obtain legislative approval for a $1 billion, Las Vegas-style casino in Atlanta. Sites scouted included the Georgia Dome, Centennial Olympic Park, and the downtown “Gulch.”

With his remarks, Reed effectively expanded the search area. In a reluctant sort of way.

“I’m not there on gaming at all. I believe Las Vegas is in Las Vegas for a reason,” the mayor said. “I just have real issues setting a facility in Atlanta where working folks get off work and walk into a gaming casino.”

And yet to put the kibosh on talks with casino magnates or their representatives would amount to “fiscal malpractice,” he added. “Staggering” numbers were at stake.

Many faults have been assigned to the mayor of Atlanta, but equivocation isn’t one of them. So what’s up?

Well over a year ago, shortly after the Braves announced they would depart for Cobb County, Georgia State University and a private development team led by the Atlanta real estate firm Carter began pitching a $300 million proposal that calls for the conversion of “The Ted” into a football, soccer and track and field stadium.

The firm also wants to develop the surrounding acreage with student housing – plus retail establishments. A first session with local residents was held in June. Things did not go well.

“None of us want to live on frat row,” said one long-time resident.

You might wonder how a neighborhood with an overabundance of laundromats, liquor stores and check-cashing establishments can afford to be picky. But the Summerhill community has been promised stadium rainbows since 1965, when the first Braves home was thrown up on their backs. Residents have little reason to trust developers.

“It’s fair to say that the neighborhood isn’t sold on the idea,” said Carla Smith, the councilwoman who represents the area. “What the future holds, I don’t know.”

The mayor said last week that he would follow the lead of Smith, who has been able to cobble together a community-based study of what might be done with the Turner Field acreage. It won’t be completed until next June.

Reed said he has no doubt that a university would make a better quality-of-life neighbor for Summerhill. “I’ve got to believe for the kids in that neighborhood, it’s probably more inspirational to look onto a college campus with professors and sports and ball fields than to look onto a gaming casino,” the mayor said.

But by holding out a casino alternative, the mayor was encouraging both sides to get down to the business of unicorn-free negotiations. Now, in order to work, a casino threat – no, that’s the wrong word – a casino alternative requires credibility. It requires motive.

Fortunately, Gov. Nathan Deal and the Atlanta Hawks have provided. The governor said this week he might let Georgia voters have the final word on casino gambling in a referendum. And the Hawks announced their need for a new or renovated stadium.

Reed has said he’s open to some public funding to keep the basketball team in Atlanta, but where to find the cash? Well, when it comes to Turner Field, the math would tell you that a $1 billion casino deal is bigger than a $300 million GSU-based expansion.

The university, by the way, has yet to produce details of how it would finance its portion of the venture, so Reed’s casino pitch might also be aimed at those who operate the levers of state government, including the Board of Regents.

A gaming facility may be just as threatening to the Gold Dome crowd as to Summerhill. A casino where “The Ted” now sits would be a virtual next-door neighbor to the state Capitol. The optics would be deadly. And surely locating two houses of chance so closely together would violate local land-use restrictions.

Edited July 30, 2015 by atlhawks1

[DJlaysitup]

I'm all for it - make downtown Atlanta "Sin City"...legalize prostitution (which I have no problem with) ...Gambling...especially sports betting...A horse track...OTB for other tracks...let's go all-in.

[Randy]

Why stop with just horse racing.  DOG RACING!!!!!  Maybe we can get Michael Vick involved.....oh wait, wrong kind of dog sport.  

[volman]

This is the Bible Belt but....... The almighty dollar will win out eventually. Probably the same with marihuana sales too because of the revenue it'll bring the state.

 

This is an incorrect statement.  Colorado thought it would get so much tax revenue from legalizing the sale of marijuana, but that could not be further from the truth (from what they were estimating to what actually has come in).

 

Now I think weed will be legal, but let's not say that it will be some huge tax-generating business. These drug dealers will just not go to jail for selling it.  Why would you want to pay taxes?

[AHF]

This is an incorrect statement.  Colorado thought it would get so much tax revenue from legalizing the sale of marijuana, but that could not be further from the truth (from what they were estimating to what actually has come in).

 

Now I think weed will be legal, but let's not say that it will be some huge tax-generating business. These drug dealers will just not go to jail for selling it.  Why would you want to pay taxes?

 

The alcohol companies pay their taxes.  It will come with time, IMO.

[atlhawks1]

This is an incorrect statement.  Colorado thought it would get so much tax revenue from legalizing the sale of marijuana, but that could not be further from the truth (from what they were estimating to what actually has come in).

 

Now I think weed will be legal, but let's not say that it will be some huge tax-generating business. These drug dealers will just not go to jail for selling it.  Why would you want to pay taxes?

 

Looks like they doing ok to me..............lmao

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/12/colorados-legal-weed-market-700-million-in-sales-last-year-1-billion-by-2016/

 

Colorado’s legal weed market: $700 million in sales last year, $1 billion by 2016

 

By Christopher Ingraham February 12  

Legal marijuana was a $700 million dollar industry in Colorado last year, according to a Washington Post analysis of recently-released tax data from the state's Department of Revenue. In 2014, Colorado retailers sold $386 million of medical marijuana and $313 million for purely recreational purposes. The two segments of the market generated $63 million in tax revenue, with an additional $13 million collected in licenses and fees.

Edited July 31, 2015 by atlhawks1

[Randy]

Not to mention all the tourism revenue its bringing to Colorado....

[bird_dirt]

And taxes generated by the sales of snack foods.

[Hawkmoor]

If one of the new Casinos is built near Phillips Arena, or even REPLACES Phillips ( Phillips becomes a part of a new complex),  the Hawks are gonna have to turn free agents AWAY...........lol 

http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/georgia/house-committee-greenlights-casino-bill/nqYBt/

ATLANTA — A state House committee approved a set of measures Thursday that would seek to bring casino gambling to Georgia.

The bill and accompanying constitutional amendment would allow up to four casinos around the state, with two in the metro Atlanta area. At least 90 percent of revenue from casinos would go toward education, including the HOPE scholarship. The program is currently funded by the state Lottery but has struggled to keep pace with demand.

The measures' sponsor Rep. Ron Stephens, R- Savannah, said casino gambling would fill the gap.

"The HOPE scholarship has continued to dwindle from 100 percent funding to 70 percent," he said.

The version of the bill approved by the committee increased casinos' state tax rate to 20 percent. Previous versions called for a 12 percent tax but allowed for six casinos. Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, said, the potential annual revenue at 12 percent would be between $280 million and $300 million. He expects the higher tax to bring in more funding for education, despite a smaller number of permitted casinos.

If lawmakers pass the constitutional amendment, Georgians statewide would vote on whether to allow casinos. If the statewide ballot succeeds, Stephens said communities would then have to hold referendums to approve local casinos.

"It's not coming unless you want it," he said.

The bill also would create a new state commission to oversee casinos.

"This is a best practice from a regulatory standpoint," Ramsey said.

Opponents of the measure argued that casinos don't have broad economic impact and can cause social problems.

John Kindt, a professor of business and legal policy at the University of Illinois, said expanding gambling legislation in Georgia would come with serious consequences. Kindt also said casino gambling wouldn't encourage new job creation due to the popularity of slot machines.

"We are not talking about a consumer business here," he said. "Gambling doesn't generate economic development. Crime and bankruptcies will ultimately go up as a result."

The committee's approval could mean the bill will reach the House floor for a vote before a key deadline on Monday. Bills must pass at least one chamber before the 30th day of the legislative session. Supporters still could face opposition; Gov. Nathan Deal has said he's not supportive of casino gambling.

 

[HawkItus]

See Atlantic city.  No thanks.

[hazer]

1 hour ago, HawkItus said:

See Atlantic city.  No thanks.

See Monaco, Vegas, NOLA, Cherokee NC, Biloxi MS, etc. Yes please...

[TheNorthCydeRises]

6 hours ago, HawkItus said:

See Atlantic city.  No thanks.

The differences are that ...

1) Atlanta is already an event city and a tourist destination.  

2) It's in the population center, not 60 - 100 miles away from the population center, like Atlantic City is.

3) Hartsfield-Jackson Intl. Airport is the busiest in the world, with over 100 million passengers passing through.

4) Next to LA and New York, there are more rich and famous people living in, and going through Atlanta, than anywhere