Hollywood Casino Hotel Project Delayed

 Construction of the 248-room Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, which had been scheduled  to begin this week, has been delayed indefinitely, Wyandotte County’s Unified Government said in a news release issued this afternoon.

     The delay was attributed to proposals being considered by the Kansas Legislature to allow up to 2,800 slot machines at a reopened Woodlands Race Track, and to the tax consequences associated with that. The Woodlands, officials say, would have a significant tax advantage over the Hollywood Casino, just two miles away in the Village West entertainment district.

      As a consequence, the casino must pay 1 percent of its annual gaming revenues to the Unified Government, a penalty set out in the development agreement. The county says it expects to receive $1.4 million from the casino, based on year-over-year revenues of more than $148 million through February of this year.

The release said Penn National Gaming executives would continue to evaluate the hotel project to determine its economic viability.