Cordish Wins Approval for $150M Expansion of Maryland Live! Casino

Baltimore Business Journal

The Anne Arundel County Council approved on Monday evening a $150 million expansion of Maryland Live Casino.

The Cordish Cos., owner and operator of the Arundel Mills casino, plans to add an upscale hotel with 300 suites, additional dining options and a conference center that would hold up to 4,000 people.

The expansion is expected to create 1,000 permanent and construction jobs.

The approval from the county includes a $22.5 million tax incremental financing (TIF) bond for infrastructure improvements near the casino. Repayment of the bond will be made entirely out of of new revenue generated by the hotel and conference center. As part of the agreement, the conference center would be available for use by the county, public schools, Anne Arundel Community College and nonprofits free of charge.

Baltimore-based Cordish will be responsible for all private financing of the $150 million project.

A spokeswoman for Maryland Live said a timeline for the expansion will be announced soon.

Maryland Live, the state's largest casino, debuted in 2012 at a cost of $550 million.

The expansion comes as the $1.2 billion MGM National Harbor gears up for a mid-2016 opening. The Prince George's County project will include a 300-plus room hotel.

Meantime, officials with the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore have said they are mulling a new hotel as part of a plan to bring more development to the Russell Street stretch of South Baltimore.