It’s the third time the county has applied for a gaming license, after first applying in 2014 and again in 2017. Both efforts were shot down by the commission.
The proposed Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center is estimated to generate over $60 million in new gaming revenue for the State of Iowa, according to two market studies released last month. The Linn County Gaming Association promised to give 8% of its revenue back to the community through local nonprofits.
"This is the best one,” Jonathan Swain, director of the Cedar Rapids Development Group, said about Cedar Crossing. “It has the most amenities, it’s the highest value proposal, and so I think that the commission looked at that and saw a differentiation from the prior applications that we submitted.”
In a 4-1 vote to approve the license, commissioners aired concerns about cannibalization in the gaming industry. One market study predicted the Cedar Crossing would draw $56 million away from other casinos — the other predicted $68 million.
Cannibalization has raised significant concerns among state lawmakers, who tried to pass a five-year moratorium on new casino licensing that would have blocked the application of Cedar Crossing. The bill was introduced in the House but was killed by the Senate State Government Committee.
The single no vote was cast by Commissioner Alan Ostergren of Altoona, who cited what he said were negligible state revenue gains and a petition brought by Riverside Casino and Golf Resort. The petition claimed that a 2021 gambling referendum in Linn County did not have the appropriate language for the commission to consider the application.
On Jan. 23, the commission voted to sidestep deciding whether the petition could interfere with their decision.
“We are a million miles away from a free market here,” Ostergren said. “And we did not ask as a commission to be put in a position of a command economy. But here we are.”
Commissioner Amy Burkhart of Burlington said without the new casino being implemented, the state’s gaming tax revenue could go down due to competition with surrounding states. Cedar Crossing is estimated to increase state gaming tax revenue by $10.5 million.
Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell expressed relief at the commission’s decision.
“They took all of the worry that this would be a political decision out of it,” O’Donnell said. “I had every confidence, from the very beginning — as I’ve said — in this commission, knowing that they took the time to pour over thousands of pages of data.”
The application was submitted by the Cedar Rapids Development Group and the Linn County Gaming Association. They will have until Oct. 31, 2027 to complete the project.
