CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The third time is the charm for supporters and developers’ efforts to bring a casino to Cedar Rapids.
By a 4-1 margin Thursday morning, Feb. 6, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) voted to approve a gaming license for a Cedar Rapids casino.
A casino groundbreaking ceremony construction is set for 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 7, for the $275 million Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center, which will now be built on vacant land between F and I avenues NW and First and Fifth streets NW.
Construction is set to be completed in the latter half of 2027, though representatives of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, the company that will develop and operate Cedar Crossing, declined to specify a completion date.
The decision marks a key turning point for the IRGC, which had twice rejected casino proposals for Linn County, in 2014 and 2017, after commissioners largely sided with opponents who argued the state’s gaming market was saturated and a new Linn County casino would glean market share at the expense of other casinos.
Linn County voters approved a casino referendum in 2013, and a second referendum approved by voters in November 2021 allowed developers to seek a casino license for the county in perpetuity.
Commissioners said they based their vote on the impact of the new casino on the Iowa gaming market overall. While acknowledging that Cedar Crossing will “cannibalize” revenue from other Eastern Iowa casinos, they said that on balance, the project’s benefits far outweighed that single factor.
“This is a cataclysmic moment for Cedar Rapids and Linn County, and I feel all of the emotion,” Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell, a vocal casino advocate, said after the meeting. “I’m just so proud of the efforts and of this commission.”
