The Las Vegas owners of Edgewater Casino in Vancouver have pumped $5 million into the facility since buying it 20 months ago and the investment appears to be paying off. Casino general manager Barry Pritchard said Monday the City of Vancouver's share of casino revenues rose 18 per cent to $5.56 million for the year ending March 31, 2008 -- indicating, unofficially, that total revenues climbed above the $100-million mark from $85 million a year earlier. The official casino revenue figures have not yet been released by the B.C. Lottery Corporation.
Pritchard said Edgewater Casino owners Paragon Gaming LLC of Las Vegas are very pleased with the revenue growth, "given the facility we have."Paragon paid $42 million to buy the downtown casino from original owners Gary Jackson and Len Libin in September 2006 and become the first foreign owners of a B.C. casino. Pritchard said the $5 million spent on improvements so far has gone towards several projects -- including a $1-million upgrade of its Stadium Club theatre, improved signage, new lighting, new carpets, a new bar, better furniture and a repositioning of every slot machine and table in the casino. The casino cut the number of slot machines from 600 to 500 and used the extra space to increase the number of poker tables from four to 18, creating one of the largest poker rooms in B.C.
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"A very nice kicker to this whole transaction is a dynamic that has been set up at the government
level, whereby any capital expenditure you spend on your casinos is refunded by the government," a bank spokesman said. "So there is, specific to this region of the world, a very attractive environment for a casino operator." Casinos that want to upgrade to capture more of gamblers' money usually pay the costs. In B.C., taxpayers take the hit. Australian bank who is partner of Aussie's biggest gambling operator who took over Gateway who is the owner of Lake City Casino. PBL is a media and gambling company controlled by Australia's richest man, James Packer.
Under the terms of the COSAs with the BCLC, the BCLC deposits a facility development fee (”FDF”), equal to 3% of the total revenue generated from the table games and slot machines at each BC casino, into a trust account managed by the casino operator, for payout of additional compensation based on eligible capital expenditures. When Gateway incurs an eligible expenditure, it submits this to the BCLC for approval and, once approved, can draw the amount of the expenditure from the Facility Development Fund. Any funds not reimbursed accumulate in the facility development fund for future eligible expenditures.
The Accelerated Facility Development Commission (“AFDC”) provides for an additional amount equal to 2% of the gross win (in addition to the 3% FDC) to recover the capital costs of the redeveloped casino property, and is applicable to projects approved by the BCLC after July 1, 2006.
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- On July 20, 2004, as part of the rezoning conditions for the Plaza of Nations, Council accepted a public benefit offering from Edgewater Casino that included a donation of $200,000 annually.
- This contribution is to continue for the duration of the permit to operate the casino, which recently has been extended until July 2013.
- The legal agreement that was consequently signed by the City and Edgewater Casino on November 1, 2004, indicates that the City has sole discretion to administer the funds.
- This contribution is above and beyond the casino revenue that the City receives from the Province as part of the host local government gaming revenue agreement.
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