Miami Casinos could save Real Estate Market

In the mid-2000’s, the Miami real estate market was booming as people rushed to buy property around the beautiful ocean side city. And condo developers kept up with this trend by building numerous units across the Miami skyline in hopes of cashing in on the good times. Unfortunately, the city’s real estate market crashed in 2007, and things haven’t been the same since.

Interestingly enough though, those in the Miami real estate game could get a major boost from the unlikeliest of sources – casino gaming. With Miami seriously considering casinos, thousands of people could be interested in buying or renting a condo near the gaming action. That said, let’s take a closer look at the different ways in which new resort-style casinos could help save the Miami real estate market.

The Malaysian-based Genting Group made big news in early 2011 when they bought property from the Miami Herald newspaper for $230 million. And while Genting doesn’t have the okay to start building a casino just yet, the huge investment they made sure makes them seem pretty confident.

This move has inspired plenty of confidence in real estate developers too because 16 condo towers are being planned in anticipation of a possible Genting casino. What makes this especially intriguing is that there are still thousands of condos that haven’t been sold within the Miami area. Essentially, construction on most of the towers hinges on whether the Genting Group’s proposal is accepted by Miami and the state of Florida.

In addition to the aforementioned casino plan by Genting, other major companies are throwing their hat into the ring as well. The Las Vegas Sands Corp., Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts are just some of the brands that are giving their pitch to build a casino in or around Miami. Basically, all of the companies are competing for three potential licenses – each requiring a company to spend $2 billion on a resort-style casino.

As we mentioned before, Miami and Florida lawmakers must make it legal for the three licenses to be distributed in the first place. But if it is decided that licenses will be awarded, condo developers aren’t really going to care which brand receives what license because the real estate market as a whole will be a big winner.

Assuming Florida does approve measures that allow Miami to issue casino licenses, it’s worth mentioning that condo developers won’t benefit immediately from the decision; in fact, it could be years before businessmen see their investments pay off. After all, the casinos still have to be built, and considering that these are multi-billion dollar operations, this will take a few years.

Once the casinos are built, it’ll take some time before the condo units start selling outright. And for those planning on renting the units, the majority of Miami condo rentals require leasers to rent for six months or more; so these long-term commitments mean people won’t be so hasty to move into a place. But despite these minor inconveniences, it’s clear that real estate developers in Miami would be thrilled if the casino measure is approved for the city.