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Old 03-20-2019, 11:13 AM
 
Location: Mobile,Al(the city by the bay)
5,001 posts, read 9,149,762 times
Reputation: 1959
26 years ago Donald Trump and former mayor Mike Dow ( One of Mobile's best in my opinion) had a meeting about plans to build a 250 million dollar Casino,hotel and theme park. The Alabama legislature killed that idea but man I can't help to imagine the what ifs. The Mississippi Casino Beau Rivage was originally planned for Mobile by developer Steve Wynn. I hate that Alabama is so regressive on this issue. Downtown Mobile is experiencing a lot of growth and redevelopments. I can imagine what it would have been today if the state would have capitalized on the proposals of Donald Trump and Steve Wynn.

Quote:
City officials said more than a dozen operators had done so. Some of those kept their visits low-key, but not Donald J. Trump, who was greeted by “smiles, flashing cameras and autograph seekers” when he arrived in August 1993.Dow says he recalls Trump pointing at a particular place where he said he’d put a facility costing hundreds of millions of dollars. One archival photo shows the two men looking out a window at the 34th-floor Bienville Club, atop what was then the city’s tallest building, with Dow gesturing down at the waterfront.
Quote:
Trump's mission was to schmooze Dow and other local officials while scouting sites for what he said would be a $250 million casino, hotel and theme park. According to a story by business reporter Kathy Jumper, Trump also was touting a smaller Gulfport development as if it was a done deal. He eventually got site approval and a gaming license, but never built it.
Quote:
The casino bubble made for heady days in Lower Alabama. How heady? At one point a spokeswoman for Lone Star Casinos said the company had selected a site in Daphne near the intersection of Interstate 10 and U.S. 98 and hoped to open a casino there by 1995.Trump had suggested he might buy land in Mobile even before the state approved gambling. One other heavy hitter, Steve Wynn, actually did so. A 1994 Press-Register story reported that a subsidiary of Wynn's Mirage Resorts Inc. had paid about $700,000 for two parcels in downtown Mobile. One of them had been co-owned by former mayor Arthur R. Outlaw, a gambling opponent.
Quote:
"I met with Steve Wynn at the request of Mike Dow," Sheridan says. He flew to Las Vegas and met Wynn in his office. "He showed me these grandiose plans called Beau Rivage and said, 'I will build this in downtown Mobile.'" "He had it all figured out," Sheridan says. Biloxi was his second choice because its waterfront location would have limited expansion opportunities. "He said, 'If they don't do it, we'll go to Biloxi," Sheridan says.
Quote:
Wynn moved forward with plans to give the Gulf Coast one of the nation’s most luxurious gambling resorts, with an investment estimated at anywhere from $500 million on the low end to $650 million and up. Beau Rivage was about to raise the bar higher than anyone had thought it could go, back when the discussion was all about a few riverboats.
https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/when...rom-trump.html

If this would have went through Mobile would have been what Savannah and Charleston are today on a tourist aspect.
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Old 03-20-2019, 12:18 PM
 
Location: Ayy Tee Ell by way of MS, TN, AL and FL
1,717 posts, read 1,984,980 times
Reputation: 3052
I read that article too. From my vantage point, the casinos weren't really needed for Mobile or Lower Alabama. There were actual vacation beaches, the State Docks and now Airbus. Why not just be happy with that. Everybody can look back on missed opportunities from time to time, can't have everything.

The whole 'Gulf Coast' is going to eventually function together as a Megaregion, from east Texas to Panama City.
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Old 03-20-2019, 01:02 PM
 
2,995 posts, read 3,577,060 times
Reputation: 1410
Quote:
Originally Posted by PortCity View Post
26 years ago Donald Trump and former mayor Mike Dow ( One of Mobile's best in my opinion) had a meeting about plans to build a 250 million dollar Casino,hotel and theme park. The Alabama legislature killed that idea but man I can't help to imagine the what ifs. The Mississippi Casino Beau Rivage was originally planned for Mobile by developer Steve Wynn. I hate that Alabama is so regressive on this issue. Downtown Mobile is experiencing a lot of growth and redevelopments. I can imagine what it would have been today if the state would have capitalized on the proposals of Donald Trump and Steve Wynn.


https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/when...rom-trump.html

If this would have went through Mobile would have been what Savannah and Charleston are today on a tourist aspect.
maybe great
OR like his casinos in Atlantic City
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/n...ntic-city.html
ATLANTIC CITY — The Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel is now closed, its windows clouded over by sea salt. Only a faint outline of the gold letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P remains visible on the exterior of what was once this city’s premier casino.
Not far away, the long-failing Trump Marina Hotel Casino was sold at a major loss five years ago and is now known as the Golden Nugget.
At the nearly deserted eastern end of the boardwalk, the Trump Taj Mahal, now under new ownership, is all that remains of the casino empire Donald J. Trump assembled here more than a quarter-century ago. Years of neglect show: The carpets are frayed and dust-coated chandeliers dangle above the few customers there to play the penny slot machines.
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Old 03-20-2019, 02:59 PM
 
Location: Mobile,Al(the city by the bay)
5,001 posts, read 9,149,762 times
Reputation: 1959
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mississippi Alabama Line View Post
I read that article too. From my vantage point, the casinos weren't really needed for Mobile or Lower Alabama. There were actual vacation beaches, the State Docks and now Airbus. Why not just be happy with that. Everybody can look back on missed opportunities from time to time, can't have everything.

The whole 'Gulf Coast' is going to eventually function together as a Megaregion, from east Texas to Panama City.
No it wasn't needed but man why not want more ? Look what Birmingham would have been with Delta and the opportunity to own a NFL team back in the day. That Casino/hotel/themepark development would have sparked other things. I'm happy to have Airbus and a growing state docks and etc but having more and wanting more is always a plus in my book.
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Old 03-20-2019, 03:03 PM
 
Location: Mobile,Al(the city by the bay)
5,001 posts, read 9,149,762 times
Reputation: 1959
Quote:
Originally Posted by AU HSV View Post
maybe great
OR like his casinos in Atlantic City
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/n...ntic-city.html
ATLANTIC CITY — The Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel is now closed, its windows clouded over by sea salt. Only a faint outline of the gold letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P remains visible on the exterior of what was once this city’s premier casino.
Not far away, the long-failing Trump Marina Hotel Casino was sold at a major loss five years ago and is now known as the Golden Nugget.
At the nearly deserted eastern end of the boardwalk, the Trump Taj Mahal, now under new ownership, is all that remains of the casino empire Donald J. Trump assembled here more than a quarter-century ago. Years of neglect show: The carpets are frayed and dust-coated chandeliers dangle above the few customers there to play the penny slot machines.

He has some failed developments and I see where you are coming from but there were other developers like Steve Wynn who wanted to build hotel/ casino resorts in Mobile and other areas on the Alabama Gulf coast as well. That would have opened a doors for other areas of the state to have casino resorts.
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Old 03-21-2019, 04:38 AM
 
Location: Floribama
18,949 posts, read 43,590,485 times
Reputation: 18759
Well I know this, PCI is getting mega rich off of the one they built here in Atmore, because they recently acquired another one in Pennsylvania, and then there’s OWA in Foley. They also just bought the Holiday Inn and Fairfield Inn across from Wind Creek.

They recently announced they are going to build a new amphitheater but they have used up all of the tribal land, so they will have to buy land from the city, which means the city will get tax revenue from it.

https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/sand...-purchase.html
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Old 03-21-2019, 06:29 AM
 
Location: Mobile,Al(the city by the bay)
5,001 posts, read 9,149,762 times
Reputation: 1959
Quote:
Originally Posted by southernnaturelover View Post
Well I know this, PCI is getting mega rich off of the one they built here in Atmore, because they recently acquired another one in Pennsylvania, and then there’s OWA in Foley. They also just bought the Holiday Inn and Fairfield Inn across from Wind Creek.

They recently announced they are going to build a new amphitheater but they have used up all of the tribal land, so they will have to buy land from the city, which means the city will get tax revenue from it.

https://www.al.com/news/2019/03/sand...-purchase.html
They own a couple of buildings in downtown Mobile. I don't know of they are waiting on an opportunity or what. If this what came to fruitation downtown Mobile and the coastal area in general would have been crazy.
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Old 03-21-2019, 07:27 AM
 
Location: New Jersey and hating it
12,202 posts, read 7,220,605 times
Reputation: 17473
Quote:
Originally Posted by AU HSV View Post
maybe great
OR like his casinos in Atlantic City
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/n...ntic-city.html
ATLANTIC CITY — The Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel is now closed, its windows clouded over by sea salt. Only a faint outline of the gold letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P remains visible on the exterior of what was once this city’s premier casino.
Not far away, the long-failing Trump Marina Hotel Casino was sold at a major loss five years ago and is now known as the Golden Nugget.
At the nearly deserted eastern end of the boardwalk, the Trump Taj Mahal, now under new ownership, is all that remains of the casino empire Donald J. Trump assembled here more than a quarter-century ago. Years of neglect show: The carpets are frayed and dust-coated chandeliers dangle above the few customers there to play the penny slot machines.
Trump's Atlantic City casinos, particularly Trump Plaza and Taj Mahal were some of his most successful casino endeavors. The decline in casino revenue in Atlantic City had nothing to do with Trump.

For a number of decades in 80's and 90's, Atlantic City had a monopoly on casino gambling in the North East, like the East coast version of Las Vegas. It was raking in money. New glitzy casinos were popping up all over the city.

The problem started when nearby states particularly Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut and even New York started to allow casinos to be built. This obviously hit Atlantic City hard because most of their customers can get their gambling closer to home. Hence the decline.

Get your facts straight, or at least try not to mislead people by your incomplete, one-sided story (from the biased liberal NYT no less).
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Old 03-21-2019, 08:01 AM
 
Location: Ayy Tee Ell by way of MS, TN, AL and FL
1,717 posts, read 1,984,980 times
Reputation: 3052
Quote:
Originally Posted by antinimby View Post
Trump's Atlantic City casinos, particularly Trump Plaza and Taj Mahal were some of his most successful casino endeavors. The decline in casino revenue in Atlantic City had nothing to do with Trump.

For a number of decades in 80's and 90's, Atlantic City had a monopoly on casino gambling in the North East, like the East coast version of Las Vegas. It was raking in money. New glitzy casinos were popping up all over the city.

The problem started when nearby states particularly Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut and even New York started to allow casinos to be built. This obviously hit Atlantic City hard because most of their customers can get their gambling closer to home. Hence the decline.

Get your facts straight, or at least try not to mislead people by your incomplete, one-sided story (from the biased liberal NYT no less).
This happened to Tunica, MS too. There was simply no other draw to that area except the gambling.

Casinos are an addition I guess, but they aren't some huge boon, they really only do alright if the area already has a tourism element to it. This could work in Mobile, but it's not something that will change anything at all. People act like it changed Biloxi and the MS Gulf Coast, but I'm still not convinced it was some huge deal. It moved the needle, sure, but it's not the driver of the area. It certainly helped to be the first, and that's created a little bit of a reputation, but still. The Coast has always been fairly prosperous. Katrina blew the place away and it's come back stronger than ever.

I know one thing, it led to some dumb infrastructure spending in Tunica. And look in Wetumpka, Atmore, and the dog track. Are those NICER areas because of the casino? I'd argue no.
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Old 03-21-2019, 08:40 AM
 
Location: Floribama
18,949 posts, read 43,590,485 times
Reputation: 18759
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mississippi Alabama Line View Post

I know one thing, it led to some dumb infrastructure spending in Tunica. And look in Wetumpka, Atmore, and the dog track. Are those NICER areas because of the casino? I'd argue no.
Actually Atmore has benefited quite a bit from Wind Creek, and the whole Rivercane development at I-65 likely wouldn’t exist without it. There’s actually a new medical center planned across the road from Wind Creek, and certainly they wouldn’t even be considering that if it weren’t for the increased traffic.
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