Three Wichita-linked developers move to final round in competition for southeast Kansas casino

Phil Ruffin’s Camptown Casino proposal, along with the two other casino proposals, reached the next step in the selection process Friday morning after a vote by the Kansas Lottery Commission.

The three proposals will be passed on to the Kansas Gaming Facility Review Board, which has 60 days to pick a winner for the state’s southeast location.

Ruffin proposed to build a casino on top of his former Camptown dog track in Frontenac, near Pittsburg, but the commission last week questioned an apparent valuation of the land and buildings at $25 million. Under state law, the proposals have to be worth at least $50 million, and the valuation was important to Ruffin’s proposal reaching that threshold.

On Friday, Ruffin provided more detail on how he arrived at that figure. There were no questions about the other two proposals.

The commission members said they were satisfied with the explanation and approved all three proposals as meeting the state minimum requirements.

The other two proposals include Castle Rock Casino Resort, led by Wichita brothers Rodney and Brandon Steven along with 18 other investors. At about $144 million, it’s about twice the size of the other proposals. It would be about a mile from the borders of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, along U.S. 400.

Kansas Crossing Casino, slated for the junction of U.S. 400 and 69 just south of Pittsburg and close to the Missouri border, is estimated to cost $70.2 million. Its investors are primarily from the Topeka area and include Bruce Christianson, HDT Cameron Hotels, Bruce McPherson, Michael McPherson, Nancy Seitz, James Walker, Jonathan Swain, Natalie Schramm and Brent Stevens. The group also includes Wichita developer George Laham.

This story was originally published April 24, 2015 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Three Wichita-linked developers move to final round in competition for southeast Kansas casino."