Maryland Live!
Chuck Darrow
It’s not at all uncommon for a casino to have a shopping component. From the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas to the Outlets at Pennsylvania’s Sands Bethlehem, retail activity has found a home within the gaming world.
But only one property has turned that formula upside-down: Maryland Live! in Hanover, Md., is a casino that is part of a shopping center, rather than vice-versa.
Opened in mid-2012 as a slots-only operation with limited hours, today the popular gambling den is a full-service, 24/7 casino that sits among more than 200 stores in the sprawling Arundel Mills shopping center smack-dab in the middle of the suburbs between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. One of its neighbors is a Burlington Coat Factory outlet. Across the parking lot sits the Cinemark Egyptian 24 theater complex.
On the one hand, the Maryland Live! location speaks to the mainstream acceptance of casino gaming: Forty years ago, when Atlantic City was becoming the first jurisdiction outside Nevada to legally sanction casinos, the thought of one in such a family-oriented location was virtually impossible to conjure.
On the other hand, suggests the property’s chief executive, erecting Maryland Live! in the complex already controlled by the casino’s owner, the Maryland-based Cordish Companies (which is co-developing the casino-hotel planned for South Philadelphia’s stadium area) was a no-brainer.
“Gamers are looking for great entertainment, great food, shopping, easy access and location, location, location,” said Maryland Live! GM and President Robert Norton. “The Arundel Mills site had it all.
“Without having to put a single dime of investment into the location, it already had 30-plus restaurants, it had movie theaters -- the third largest in the country -- it had over 200 stores. Fourteen million visitors were already coming here [annually].
“We’re right at the intersection of [Routes] 295 and 100, with I-95 only being a mile away. We’re nearly dead in the middle between Baltimore and Washington D.C. We’re in the height of suburbia between two major metropolitan areas. And there’s a third, smaller metropolitan area in Annapolis that’s also equal distance away. So we’re right in this triangle of great cities.
“And from a hotel standpoint, there are 5,000 hotel rooms within a mile.”
The casino itself matches up favorably with any on the East Coast. It boasts approximately 4,000 slot machines; 150 “live action” tables games (blackjack, craps, etc.); a 52-table poker room; 56 dealer-assisted electronic table games and high-limit table game and slots salons.
There are a variety of dining options from casual (Bobby’s Burger Palace from uber-chef Bobby Flay) to upscale (an outpost of Baltimore’s swanky Prime Rib steakhouse), and several live-music venues including the 500-seat Ram’s Head Center Stage.
