Cedar Crossing casino in Cedar Rapids set to open after decade-long fight
Iowa regulators approved the $275m Cedar Crossing project in 2025 after rejecting Cedar Rapids casino bids twice before, and the property now plans a November soft launch.
A $275 million casino project in Cedar Rapids, Iowa's second-largest city, is preparing to open its doors next month after clearing a regulatory path that took more than a decade to complete.
Cedar Crossing Casino and Entertainment Center will hold a soft opening on 19 November, with a larger grand opening set for 5 December, operators told the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission on Thursday, according to iGaming Business.
Cedar Crossing general manager Kim Pang told local outlet KCRG the project represents years of waiting for the city, calling it a chance for the casino to become part of Cedar Rapids' fabric.
The commission had twice turned down proposals for a Cedar Rapids casino, rejecting bids from Peninsula Pacific Entertainment and the Linn County Gaming Association in 2014 and 2017, before finally approving the project last year.
Backers also had to work around a statewide pause on new gaming licences that ran from 2022 to 2024, along with a separate push for another moratorium that surfaced around the time regulators gave their approval.
Riverside Casino, an existing Iowa property, went to court to challenge the licence award.
Once open, Cedar Crossing will become the state's 20th commercial casino, joining four tribal venues in a market that ranks 32nd nationally by population — a density that fuelled concerns about properties eating into each other's revenue, a factor that had weighed against approval in the past.
Two market studies commissioned ahead of the commission's decision, from Marquette Advisors and the Innovation Group, projected that the new casino would pull in close to $60 million in fresh gaming revenue and generate about $10.5 million for state tax coffers, while acknowledging the toll it would take on rivals.
Marquette's analysis put total cannibalisation at roughly $68 million across the region, split between about $54 million from other Iowa commercial casinos and $14 million from the Meskwaki Tribe's nearby casino.
Riverside was projected to take the heaviest hit, with adjusted gross revenue there forecast to fall by close to $34 million, a 26% drop, by fiscal year 2029. Isle-Waterloo was expected to lose about $8.8 million, or 9.6% of revenue, with smaller effects spread across other casinos in central and eastern Iowa.
The finished property is planned to carry 700 slot machines, 22 table games, sports betting kiosks and a 1,500-seat entertainment venue among its amenities, with the betting kiosks switching on for the December grand opening.
Pang told KCRG the team is working through checklists with roughly a month to go, stressing that every amenity will be ready even though preparations are not yet finished.
Cedar Crossing arrives as regional casinos, often overshadowed by destinations such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City, enjoy a stronger run. Macquarie gaming analyst Chad Beynon wrote in a September investor note that regional gaming remains a bright spot, citing same-store gross gaming revenue up 1.5% year on year.
Beynon added that regional gaming estimates have kept edging higher, that several operators have lifted their guidance, and that recent take-private deals in the sector reflect a view among management teams that gaming assets and gaming stocks remain undervalued.