The HREC survey further identified $2.3 billion in proposed casino development that appears to bear a high propensity to be developed over the near future.  These projects will account for an additional 670,000 square feet of dedicated gaming space and over 6,000 hotel rooms.  The proposed projects are slated for development in five states, namely, Colorado, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada and New Jersey. 

�The intriguing results of the HREC survey indicates that new casino development is still having a tremendous impact on the nation�s real estate, hospitality and entertainment industries even though the growth of new gaming jurisdictions has slowed in recent years,� reports Michael Cahill, president of Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, Inc. 

Further national Indian gaming development may significantly increase the total development costs estimated in the HREC survey; the HREC survey did not include potential Indian gaming projects due to inherent difficulties in identifying and quantifying these projects.  If proposed legislation in California allows expanded Indian gaming, HREC estimates that over $1 billion of new casinos or expansions to existing facilities could take place within five years of the approval.  In addition, the total dollar value of Indian casino development in states such as Oregon, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas may range from $750 million to $1 billion. 

Furthermore, the survey does not include the impact of three major casinos which recently opened in March and April of 1999.  The two Las Vegas, Nevada casinos (Venetian and Mandalay Bay) and the Biloxi, Mississippi project (Beau Rivage) totaled over $3.1 billion in development costs.  Adding the $3.1 billion in recently opened casinos to the $6.7 billion under construction yields total recent casino development activity nationwide of almost $10 billion. 

�Nine of the fourteen casino projects under construction/imminent have estimated construction costs in excess of $400 million per project,� states Andy Sabatini, associate, Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, Inc.  The largest casino development under construction/imminent is the MGM casino in Detroit.  The total combined construction costs of the temporary and permanent facility will be approximately $900 million and the permanent casino will include 800 hotel rooms and roughly 100,000 square feet of gaming space. 

Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, Inc. (HREC) is an international consulting firm based in Denver, Colorado which specializes exclusively in the gaming and lodging industries.  HREC provides a wide variety of independent counseling services to the hospitality industry, including market and feasibility studies, litigation support, real estate valuations, impact studies, acquisition/disposition consulting and investment analysis.