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Detroit Mayor Delivers Casino Agreements to City Council

Under the agreements, which were independently negotiated, Greektown will convert their existing temporary facility into a permanent facility. MGM Grand Detroit will construct a new casino, hotel, retail and restaurant facilities on a site yet to be determined.

``It is time for the City of Detroit to move on,'' said the Mayor. ``The finalizing of the development agreements with Greektown and MGM represents a significant milestone for this city. Now that Council has two final agreements, it's up to them to move quickly to review and approve them.

``I commend both casinos for their willingness to step up and negotiate these agreements in a timely manner. They shared our sense of urgency in getting this done. Now we can give our full attention to other key development issues affecting Detroit.''

Under the agreements signed Monday, each Detroit casino agrees to:

-- Construct a 400-room hotel immediately, with an additional 400 rooms to be added within five years, subject to market conditions.

-- Include in their permanent casino features agreed to in their original agreement with the city, including new restaurants and bars, new retail facilities, a new theatre, new ballroom and new convention facility.

-- Expand their gaming area to 100,000 square feet of gaming.

-- Forgive a $50 million debt the city owes each casino as a result of letters of credit the casinos issued to secure money to buy land on the riverfront.

-- Pay the City of Detroit $34 million in two equal installments, with the first installment due 60 days after City Council has approved the revised agreement and the remainder due June 1, 2003.

-- Transfer ownership to the city of the 42.5 acres of land purchased in connection with the proposed riverfront site, along with railroad property north and south of Jefferson.

-- Waive the "most favored nations" tie-bar in their original agreement with the city that requires all three casinos to approve the others' development agreements.

In addition, Greektown Casino agrees to develop a plan to distribute 20 percent of the ownership interest in the casino to Detroit residents, with at least one-quarter of that interest being made available through a public offering. Greektown also agrees to construct an additional 4,000 parking spaces to serve its permanent facility.

The final development agreement with Motor City is expected in the next few days.

``With the Super Bowl coming in 2006 and our bid for the Democratic National Convention in 2004, we will benefit greatly from the increase in hotel availability in the coming years,'' said the Mayor.

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