Harrah's Rolls Out Hotel Support

09.09.2003, Lesen Sie hier den Bericht über «Harrah's Rolls Out Hotel Support».

A jam-packed Historic District Landmarks Commission hearing Thursday on Harrah's New Orleans Casino's proposed demolition of five 19th century buildings turned into a debate pitting the keepers of the city's architectural tradition against those focused on job development.

In a strategy last seen when Harrah's was fighting for a tax cut in 2001, the Canal Street casino trotted out employees, small-business owners and community group leaders who support the demolition to make way for a 450-room hotel. They emphasized the hotel's potential for creating jobs, investing in people and laying the groundwork for a business environment that would keep job- hunters from leaving Louisiana. Casino executives touted their local roots and made a glossy presentation on the hotel's economic benefits, while engineers shrugged at the decrepit state of the row of buildings they are hoping to raze.

On the other side of the ring, outnumbered preservationists asserted that the city's architectural identity is the key to its future, and noted that many historic buildings have been razed only to become vacant lots. They also charged that the demolition request is the latest example of Harrah's breaking promises to the community.

In between, testy commissioners quizzed Harrah's on why it had allowed the buildings to fall into a state where they must be razed. Some looked for alternative solutions. One commission member suggested that Harrah's knock down its parking garage to make room for its hotel, while a private citizen implored Harrah's to move the buildings to a vacant lot elsewhere downtown before building the hotel in its place.

At the end of the colorful, two-hour gathering in a cramped meeting room, commissioners decided to delay action on the proposal for 30 days to elicit more public comment, as is customary with demolition applications.

Specifically, Harrah's has asked the city if it can demolish a row of old buildings that sit behind the Harrah's parking garage between Fulton and South Peters streets on the Poydras side of the block. The casino, which won the right from the Legislature in 2001 to develop a hotel, says that it was unsuccessful at buying an existing hotel near the casino and that this location is ideal for building a hotel because it is next to the casino, and Harrah's already owns the land. Two engineers hired by Harrah's say the buildings are in danger of collapsing and must be razed for safety reasons, but an engineer hired by the HDLC says the buildings can be saved.

In Harrah's presentation, Gail Kaliszeski, Harrah's vice president of development, said that with 6.4 million annual visitors, Harrah's is the top tourist attraction in Louisiana and needs a hotel to be able to bring in more gamblers from afar. Construction work will create 1,000 jobs over the next two and a half years, will create 80 permanent jobs at the hotel and will bring millions of dollars of incremental tax revenue to Louisiana, she said. Under an agreement with the Greater New Orleans Hotel-Motel Association in 2001, the casino agreed to increase its payment to the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp., the public-private agency that promotes the city to tourists, by $500,000 annually if the casino were to build a hotel. The casino already donates $1.5 million a year to the group.

Architect Bhavna Mistry spoke of the care the casino has taken in designing a hotel that will pick up architectural features from the rest of the Fulton Street block, choosing windows that would pay homage to the Warehouse District and opting for warm colors and brick for the façade. Current designs call for the hotel to be set back from the street to create green space.

Commission members responded that no matter how attractive the building, it doesn't answer the central question of why the hotel must be built at this particular site and why the row of buildings marked for razing are in deplorable condition when the casino or its predecessors have owned them since 1993.

Elrhei Thibodeaux, executive director of the HDLC, said that her group was preparing to cite the casino for "demolition by neglect" because of the condition of the buildings when the casino's demolition applications came in. Kaliszeski was unable to say how much money had been spent on the upkeep of the buildings. She said casino parent Harrah's Entertainment Inc., based in Las Vegas, bought the JCC Holding Co., the company that owned the casino, in 2002.

However, Harrah's has been an investor in the project since its beginnings in 1993. Preservationist Tommy Tucker was chairman of HDLC in 1993 when Christopher Hemmeter, one of Harrah's original partners in the land-based casino venture, tried to raze the buildings but relented and pledged to save the buildings as a condition for getting the operating license from then-Gov. Edwin Edwards. Tucker, a lawyer, said that through each bankruptcy reorganization, the new corporate entities inherited the businesses of the last, and that promise to preserve and develop the buildings should still stand as a condition of the license. "I did not hear any argument as to why a hotel should be built in their place," Tucker said. "Don't rely on Harrah's promises."

Also testifying against the casino were the Preservation Resource Center; the Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents and Associates; and several private citizens. But Peter Babin, business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 406, which worked to build the casino building, stressed the value of the jobs that would be created through the project. "I am here in support of what Harrah's is trying to do primarily because of the jobs," Babin said. "$100 million is a nice chunk of money in construction," he said, referring to the expected cost of the proposed hotel.

Also testifying in support of Harrah's were the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp., which gets money from the casino; the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, which supports job training opportunities; the W Hotel, which would like to see the largely unoccupied block developed; Lucky Dogs, the hot dog company that sells frankfurters inside the casino; House of Blues, which is active in local tourism organizations; the Council for a Better New Orleans, which has received community grants from Harrah's; and several private citizens.

Über Harrah's Las Vegas Hotel and Casino:

Das Casino gehört zu Caesars Entertainment. Caesars Entertainment Inc. wurde 1937 als Harrah's gegründet und wurde 2010 in Caesars Entertainment umbenannt. Besitzer sind die Investment-Firmen Apollo Global Management, TPG Capital und The Blackstone Group.

--- Ende Artikel / Pressemitteilung Harrah's Rolls Out Hotel Support ---


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