Levee Board says other suitors exist

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

By Robert Travis Scott

BATON ROUGE -- A company proposing a hotel and gambling development on the New Orleans lakefront will present its plans to the Orleans Levee Board today in an attempt to take advantage of a strong local casino market after Hurricane Katrina.

New gambling revenue figures released Tuesday by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board showed continued large increases for casinos statewide compared with the previous year.

And that's without the Belle of Orleans riverboat on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans , which was damaged by the hurricane and has since moved. But the Orleans Levee Board told the gambling board Tuesday that more than one developer wants to get a casino back at the South Shore Harbor marina, which the Levee Board operates.

Donald Bailey, president of Atlantis Internet Group Corp., was on his way to New Orleans on Tuesday for a presentation today to the Levee Board, according to his Harrisburg , Pa. , office. The company, which also is based in Las Vegas , said in June that it was considering a $200 million hotel and condo development, including a 95-room hotel on a barge.

The Atlantis development is "the most concrete at this point" of the proposals the district expects to receive, but "there are other fish in the pond" interested in making offers, which cannot be disclosed at this time, Levee Board attorney Frank Milanese said.

After Katrina, the damaged Belle of Orleans, owned by Columbia Sussex Corp., was moved to Alabama for repairs. The ship and its Louisiana casino license are slated to move to a dock near Amelia in St. Mary Parish, where voters Saturday approved a proposition to accept the riverboat.

Meanwhile, the Orleans Levee Board has sued the company in Civil District Court for money the board said is owed under the ship's lease at the marina. A separate lawsuit by the district is pending in Alabama to attempt to seize the riverboat. The board says the company owes about $1.8 million for repairs to the damaged marina.

The proposed developments will hinge on getting a licensed riverboat to operate at the marina. But only a limited number of such licenses exist, meaning that a riverboat or license would have to be moved from elsewhere. Milanese did not say which riverboat or license the district hoped to get.

Two riverboats recently on the market are owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. in Lake Charles . Harrah's has abandoned the two riverboats, which were damaged by Hurricane Rita, and is awaiting agreement to sell the two licenses to Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., one of which will be used for a second Pinnacle-owned boat in the city. Pinnacle has not announced plans for the other license.

Pinnacle already operates the L'Auberge Du Lac hotel and casino complex near Lake Charles .