The east side of downtown is changing rapidly as the Greektown Casino continues its expansion and the construction of its 30-story hotel.
The 2,900 space parking structure will open on November 15 to coincide with the casino's seventh anniversary. The structure connects directly to the casino with a climate-controlled walkway and will also connect to the hotel and buffet upon their completion.
The casino expansion, which will grow actual gaming space from 75,000 to 100,000 square feet, will debut in September of 2008. The rest of the complex -- the hotel and buffet -- will follow in the fourth quarter.
Highlights of the 400-room hotel will be the first floor lounge that overlooks Monroe Street, banquet space for 250, an upscale-casual restaurant and the 42-inch plasma screen TV in every room. By far the tallest casino hotel in town, guests will be afforded "incredible downtown views," says Jason Pasko, the casino's senior director of finance. Great focus was put on the lobby of the hotel as a gathering place for guests and visitors to meet before heading out on the town.
Bill Williams, the vice president of guest services and development, already notices visitors using the casino itself as a meeting place. "People come and enjoy food or the facility and then go enjoy a game," he says. "Then, after the game, they come back!"
That relationship to its neighborhood is the Greektown difference.
"We don't want to trap people here in the casino," says Pasko. "We want
people to have fun throughout the entire district."
Source: Jason Pasko and Bill Williams, Greektown Casino
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh