$4.2 million buys possible casino site

One Northern Kentucky company is making a bet that gaming will get the approval of voters in the state. Columbia Sussex Corp., one of the nation’s largest owners of casinos and hotels, bought an old brewery in Covington with a plan to turn it into a casino should voters OK legalizing gaming.  The company, based in the Northern Kentucky community of Fort Mitchell, paid $4.2 million for five buildings on a 4.1 acre site, which was most recently occupied by a Jillian’s entertainment franchise. The new owner plans to convert the original brewery building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to shops and restaurants. The other buildings would be demolished to make way for a casino, hotel and parking garage. A new governor in Kentucky favors allowing voters to weigh in on whether casino-style gambling should be allowed, and Northern Kentucky is considered one of the state’s top areas for an expansion. Columbia Sussex owns more than 80 hotels and 10 casinos across the country. 

Source: Jim Rryan, Vollmer Realty

Writer: David Holthaus