Extend casino licence, say Edgewater buyers

The Las Vegas company looking to take over Vancouver’s struggling Edgewater Casino may back out of the deal if the city doesn’t extend its casino license by five years.

Paragon Gaming's plan to buy Edgewater depends on the license being extended until 2013, the company's V.P. of planning John Cahill confirmed in an interview yesterday. The current permit is set to expire in 2008.

Cahill said Paragon needs time to secure financing and to reposition Edgewater, which has averaged operating losses of $150,000 a week since its opening last February.

City staff are advising city councillors to endorse the casino license extension when they consider the issue tomorrow.

But Vancouver is already too reliant on gambling revenues, says anti-gambling advocate Bill Chu.

“It’s not just people that are addicted to gambling,” Chu said. “If governments are addicted to money from gambling that means they don’t have any will or power to overcome their own addiction.”

City staff concede the casino generates "significant and necessary revenues" for the city. The staff report going before council tomorrow notes, that "without the contiued operation of the casino, there is a budget risk due to the loss of revenues,” and extending the license "in the long run would most likely increase revenue contributions to the city.”

In 2005, those revenues from Edgewater fell almost $3 million short of the original $6.5-million projection, forcing the city at one point to consider raiding its emergency contingency fund.

Court documents obtained this month reveal Edgewater was in such bad shape last year that its owners even tried to sell the casino to their biggest rivals, Great Canadian Casinos, as well as Greg Kerfoot, the media-shy owner of soccer’s Whitecaps.

Last month, Kerfoot demanded repayment of some $17.5 million in debts originally taken on as part of his aborted bid to buy the casino.

If endorsed by council tomorrow, the license extension should go before the development permit board next week for final approval.

Related posts:
Cities take a gamble on casino earnings
Casino profits plunge again
Edgewater Casino losing $150,000 a week

Tags: vancouver, casinos, gambling, slot machines, edgewater, great canadian, paragon gaming, whitecaps, greg kerfoot