8.16.07Developer DeFeo wants to purchase property for casino
By MIKE CONNELL
Times Herald
...A lawsuit filed last week in St. Clair County Circuit Court claims the proposed [DeFeo] development would be anchored by a Lac Vieux-owned casino. With seven acres of gaming floor - and 5,310 games, including 5,220 slot machines - it would surpass the Soaring Eagle Casino of Mount Pleasant as the largest gambling hall in Michigan.
Mike Malik, a Detroit developer who is trying to secure a casino in Port Huron for the Bay Mills Chippewa tribe, sued DeFeo and six of his businesses last week. Malik accused DeFeo of trying to confuse investors with the name Blue Water Resort. Malik's development company, which predates DeFeo's, is called Blue Water Resorts, LLC.
The lawsuit seeks no monetary damages, but it does call on the court to compel Malik to change the name of his development. "DeFeo's use of the name Blue Water Casino is confusingly similar to plaintiff's name and appears purposefully designed to confuse investors, the public and public officials," the lawsuit said.
[Tom]Portis said he believes Kimball Township residents strongly support DeFeo's proposal. He also noted the Kimball site offers easy access to both Interstate 94 and Interstate 69.
"It is so much more favorable than the Edison Inn," he said, referring to the proposed location of the Bay Mills casino and resort hotel in Port Huron.
Architectural drawings show the Port Huron casino-hotel [Malik's project] towering above the Blue Water Bridges. The sleek-looking hotel, with at least 150 rooms and suites, resembles a ship and follows the curve of the bridge. A dominant feature is a glass-enclosed elevator shaft in the shape of a lighthouse.
Several nightclubs and restaurants with river views would adjoin the casino at ground level. The top floor would include a formal restaurant with views beyond the bridges to Lake Huron.
The [Malik backed] casino-hotel would stand directly across the St. Clair River from the Point Edward Charity Casino, owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission.
Malik and Bay Mills hope to obtain congressional and presidential approval by year's end. Legislation introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat from the Upper Peninsula, and Rep. Candice Miller, a Republican from Harrison Township, is being considered by the House Natural Resources Committee.
DeFeo has declined interview requests, and it's unclear how he expects to win legal approval for a casino in Kimball Township.
Malik's lawsuit claimed DeFeo is telling investors he can obtain a presidential executive order to create a reservation. However, Indian law experts said the Lac Vieux tribe has never asserted a land claim that would entitle it to a reservation in St. Clair County. Also, a 1919 law prohibits presidents from establishing casinos by executive order...
By MIKE CONNELL
Times Herald
...A lawsuit filed last week in St. Clair County Circuit Court claims the proposed [DeFeo] development would be anchored by a Lac Vieux-owned casino. With seven acres of gaming floor - and 5,310 games, including 5,220 slot machines - it would surpass the Soaring Eagle Casino of Mount Pleasant as the largest gambling hall in Michigan.
Mike Malik, a Detroit developer who is trying to secure a casino in Port Huron for the Bay Mills Chippewa tribe, sued DeFeo and six of his businesses last week. Malik accused DeFeo of trying to confuse investors with the name Blue Water Resort. Malik's development company, which predates DeFeo's, is called Blue Water Resorts, LLC.
The lawsuit seeks no monetary damages, but it does call on the court to compel Malik to change the name of his development. "DeFeo's use of the name Blue Water Casino is confusingly similar to plaintiff's name and appears purposefully designed to confuse investors, the public and public officials," the lawsuit said.
[Tom]Portis said he believes Kimball Township residents strongly support DeFeo's proposal. He also noted the Kimball site offers easy access to both Interstate 94 and Interstate 69.
"It is so much more favorable than the Edison Inn," he said, referring to the proposed location of the Bay Mills casino and resort hotel in Port Huron.
Architectural drawings show the Port Huron casino-hotel [Malik's project] towering above the Blue Water Bridges. The sleek-looking hotel, with at least 150 rooms and suites, resembles a ship and follows the curve of the bridge. A dominant feature is a glass-enclosed elevator shaft in the shape of a lighthouse.
Several nightclubs and restaurants with river views would adjoin the casino at ground level. The top floor would include a formal restaurant with views beyond the bridges to Lake Huron.
The [Malik backed] casino-hotel would stand directly across the St. Clair River from the Point Edward Charity Casino, owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission.
Malik and Bay Mills hope to obtain congressional and presidential approval by year's end. Legislation introduced by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat from the Upper Peninsula, and Rep. Candice Miller, a Republican from Harrison Township, is being considered by the House Natural Resources Committee.
DeFeo has declined interview requests, and it's unclear how he expects to win legal approval for a casino in Kimball Township.
Malik's lawsuit claimed DeFeo is telling investors he can obtain a presidential executive order to create a reservation. However, Indian law experts said the Lac Vieux tribe has never asserted a land claim that would entitle it to a reservation in St. Clair County. Also, a 1919 law prohibits presidents from establishing casinos by executive order...
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