The 23-story hotel at MGM National Harbor towers over the Capital Beltway, the first thing hundreds of thousands of motorists see as they stream across the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge into Maryland.
MGM Resorts International has pitched the $1.4 billion complex as a model for what it could build in the Atlanta area, if Georgia legalizes Las Vegas-style gambling. And that is no small order, requiring a change to Georgia’s constitution.
It won’t be an easy sell and will be met with fierce opposition from religious conservatives and other opponents who view gambling as a blight on society and a moral hazard.
Last month, MGM invited an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter to visit the company's newest resort just outside Washington, D.C., in Prince George's County, Md., to see how many jobs it has created and the partnerships with local businesses. The sprawling resort includes a 308-room hotel, ballrooms and meeting space, a casino the size of a Walmart Supercenter, a 3,000-seat theater, a spa and retail space.
Restaurants by celebrity chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Jose Andres and brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio are among the 12 eateries in the sprawling complex. Lionel Richie, Bruno Mars and Cher are among the acts slated to perform at the resort in its first months of business.
MGM expects the National Harbor resort will draw 20 million people a year — or more than 50,000 people per day. MGM National Harbor CEO Lorenzo Creighton said such a facility in Atlanta might draw similar numbers of visitors, spinning off visitors.
The complex sits near a Tanger outlet mall and the National Harbor development, an Atlantic Station-style mini-city on the eastern shore of the Potomac River.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes a deeper look at the casino outside of Washington, D.C., and the fight to come in Georgia over the issue in this Sunday's print edition and on our subscriber website, MyAJC.com.
