Genting sues Miami-Dade over gambling rights for downtown Miami site

Malaysian casino operator Genting Group has filed a lawsuit against Miami-Dade County and the county’s state attorney to allow Genting to operate a casino at the Omni mall in downtown Miami.

Genting has long planned to build a resort with a casino component in downtown Miami but has been blocked by significant opposition. Its property holdings include the Omni mall and hotel, as well as the 14-acre property the Miami Herald sold to the casino operator for $236 million in 2011. 

The suit, filed April 27 in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court, centers around the state’s denial in 2014 to relocate a pari-mutuel permit from Gulfstream Park in Broward County to Miami-Dade. Two days before Genting’s Resorts World Omni filed the lawsuit, Gulfstream signed a yearlong $1 lease with the company for 7,500 square feet at the Omni mall in downtown Miami.

If successful, the suit, which cites the lease as grounds, would force the state to allow card games and slots, and would prevent county police and state prosecutors from filing criminal charges against Genting, according to the Miami Herald.

A judge will determine if Gulfstream’s permit, which allows for slot machines and card games to be operated where pari-mutuel betting is, is limited to Broward.

The Next Miami first reported the lawsuit. [Miami Herald] – Katherine Kallergis