France – Euroméditerranée Will Host Marseille’s First Casino

French port city of Marseille set to build first high-profile casino.

After an extensive battle for a long desired gambling site in Marseille, current Mayor of the city, Jean-Claude Gaudin, confirmed the rumors and announced the news – it is decided, the upcoming Marseille’s gaming club will be constructed in Euroméditerranée sector. This currently renewing location is to become a business district, and which is even more important – it has all necessary requirements in order to satisfy casino groups standards to be able to obtain the licence.

The city’s casino building plans have passed many obstacles, including the Mayor’s resistance, but luckily for gamers in this area, in September 2016 he reconsidered his decision, and choosing the location for the casino became a primary question. The reason for this decision and changing of mind was the argument of economy, and a possibility of building a tourist attraction that will be unique in this area. Only this gaming house could result in up to 500 people getting a job and tax revenue of €10m per annum that will all stay to the Marceille’s public finances.

Three Potential Locations Considered

Villa Méditerranée was the first venue that was considered, but as it was too small to fulfill all the requirements, so the second-in-command of Marseille, Gérard Chenoz,  decided Euroméditerranée as the location for the casino. There are three possible locations at Euroméditerranée which are considered suitable for this type of business. One of the potential locations is land in the ownership of port, concerning Terrasses du Port shopping center and Silo Theater. The second option is location close to the Pathé cinemas that are yet to come, and the third choice could be a site right next to CMA-CGM Tower and the area of Docks.

Negotiations are being held with Groupe Partouche, as well as with Lucien Barrière, who are both interested in the idea. The Bouches-du-Rhône and Var have already hosted five venues for gaming lovers.

The Marseille-Euroméditerranée is the city renewal plan that is being conducted in Marseille, with the goal of constructing a business district on the place of the La Joliette neighborhood, nearby the docks. It is the biggest urban restoration project in southern Europe and will include renovation of 480 hectares of land in the city center. A whole living and business infrastructure, including work places, houses, stores, hotels, entertainment facilities and all other objects are being either reconstructed or built from scratch, and are to become the Marseille’s most important business area.