Hard Rock International has announced a bid of $1.1 billion to put a casino at the old Hellenikon International Airport near Athens. Hard Rock is one of three remaining contenders for developing the property.
Hard Rock International Chairman and Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen told reporters of the offer at a media event in Athens. The news comes in advance of the Greek government’s Sept. 30 decision deadline for a winning bidder for the gaming project.
Hard Rock International, Genting Malaysia, and Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment are the last three contenders for the Greece casino development. Earlier mixups and bureaucracy saw Caesars Entertainment dropping off some days back. According to experts in the know, Hard Rock and Mohegan Gaming are the front runners in the running for the Greece casino project.
The Greece casino project will include a casino with slot machines and table games, a hotel, a conference center, dining outlets, and entertainment areas. The project is part of Greece’s controversial privatization program to pay for the bailout.
The planned integrated resort and casino in Hellinikon is part of a much larger project to develop Greece’s former Hellinikon Airport site into a multi-purpose hub complete with a metropolitan park, offices, shopping malls, cultural venues, health centers, educational and research facilities and a marina. The overall project is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $9 billion.
Hard Rock operates 11 casinos and is willing to self-fund a huge portion of the $1.1 billion bid, according to reports.