Prince George's County Leaders Plan For High-End Casino | News

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (WUSA) -- Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker wants to make National Harbor an entertainment mecca with a high-end casino, a theater for Vegas-style shows, and use gaming to enhance the economic development for the entire county.

Thursday, Baker announced his push to bring the one billion dollar project to the area along the Potomac River just outside the Beltway. It has the support of Peterson Cos., the developer of National Harbor, as well as Gaylord Entertainment, which owns the largest hotel near the site.

"Bringing a billion-dollar casino to Prince George's County, high end retail and having Las Vegas-style shows will make National Harbor an entertainment district, which is what it is now, and will attract and bring tourists to Prince George's County," Baker told 9NEWS NOW. "What we'll see is an attraction from the District, from Northern Virginia, from, quite honestly, the whole east coast."

The nearest casinos with table games to National Harbor are in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Those casinos have slowed growth at Maryland's two existing slots parlors.

When Baker was in the Maryland House of Delegates, he was opposed to adding slots parlors in the state.

Baker claims the project will be an economic boom for Prince George's County. He estimates it will add about 5,000 permanent jobs and 1,300 construction jobs. He says money generated from the facility will raise $49 million a year with money going towards housing assistance programs and other non-profit groups. "This is a revenue generator for us," Baker told 9NEWS NOW. "I think it fits in line with our ability to broaden our commercial tax base."

The plan faces a long uphill battle. It must first be approved by the House of Delegates and State Senate in Annapolis. Then it must be approved by voters in a referendum both in Prince George's and statewide because table gaming is not currently legal in Maryland.

The plan will face immediate opposition from area residents. "We will fight it tooth and nail," said William H. Cavitt, president of the Indian Head Highway Area Action Council, in an interview with the Washington Post.

Baker believes this casino would help residents across the county. "Home values will go up," he predicts, "they will not go down.

Penn National Gaming, the owner of Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, has pushed for a slots parlor or casino at that site. Baker says he considered that site, but chose National Harbor instead.

"At Rosecroft, you have it surrounding people's homes," Baker said, adding that National Harbor was already a destination for visitors. "The cost of infrastructure for the county is minimal, and when we looked at whether this would have an impact on the family style atmosphere that we have at National Harbor. Everything we've seen is that it would not."

Written by Dan Guzman
9NEWS NOW & wusa9.com