New casino could attract more shopping and other businesses to downtown Cleveland

CLEVELAND - If the projections are right, 12,000 gamblers a day or 5 million gamblers a year will visit the new casino in the renovated Higbee Building, creating new interest in and around Tower City and throughout downtown Cleveland.

A hotel will be built at 21 Prospect Ave., Tilted Kilt a new restaurant will open at East 9th and Euclid Avenue and that could be just the beginning, as more national retailers become interested in Cleveland’s new casino, medical mart and rebuilt convention center.

More jobs, more stores will lead to an additional 2,500 people living downtown in what will become a 24/7 city, business leaders said during a luncheon at Tower City Thursday.

So more security will be added, and more free RTA trolley rides so visitors can easily travel to a rebuilt flats, East 4th Street, the Warehouse District and the Lakefront spending money away from the casino and throughout downtown.

A lot of new signs will direct people to attractions and ask people to donate to homeless shelters, instead of aggressive panhandlers who hit up gamblers.

So while business leaders are making big promises, a city hopes they can deliver for years long past the initial excitement of a new casino. 

Right now 11,000 people live downtown, 2,500 more expected.  But business leaders said 20,000 people living downtown can truly transform a city.