Billion-dollar casino could be coming to South Carolina if new bill is passed

SANTEE, S.C. (WBTV) – A casino could be coming to South Carolina after a new bill was introduced in the state legislature last month.

The bill was first introduced in the state House of Representatives on March 6 and is co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 17 lawmakers. Four of those sponsors were just added April 8.

Under the bill, casinos would be legalized in a select number of counties. To be eligible, counties must fall into the lowest job tax credit tier, and I-95 must run through it. Counties would have to request that the state grant applicants a casino license.

One of the counties that would be eligible to have a casino is Orangeburg County, which is where the Town of Santee is.

Santee Development Corporation — which is headed by prominent businessman Wallace Cheves — has drawn up plans and studied the economic impact of a casino in the town.

The group’s plans and study were published online, and proposed putting a casino at the corner of Mall and Knowles streets, where the abandoned Santee outlet mall currently stands. The site is right off I-95 near a handful of hotels and less than two miles from Lake Marion, and has already been bought by Santee Development Corporation.

Proposed Santee casino could have $8 billion impact on state economy

According to the Santee Development Corporation webpage where the plans and economic study were published, the proposed Santee casino would be funded “solely through private investment” with no public money used.

“Santee Development Corporation, wholly owned by South Carolinians, is exploring a private investment plan to revitalize and transform an economically challenged region of our state through the development of a world-class, billion-dollar destination resort and casino,” Cheves said in a statement.

“We strongly believe that this investment should be driven by private enterprise, not taxpayer dollars, ensuring no financial risk to the public sector,” his statement continued. “That’s why we are fully committed to not seeking a single dime of local or state funding—whether through incentives, infrastructure, or other subsidies—if the General Assembly passes the necessary legislation and local support is secured for this carefully planned single-casino initiative.”

The webpage said the proposed site would include the casino, plus a hotel, spa, restaurants and retail space. The page said the complex would be a “one-of-its-kind destination” and called the opportunity to build “tangible, transformative and life-changing” for Orangeburg County.

If the House bill were to pass and the Santee plans were to go through, the Santee Development Corporation study found that it would bring in four million annual visitors, and could raise more than $75 million in annual tax revenue.

The study said the casino complex would create more than 4,600 direct, indirect and induced jobs in South Carolina, and said building it would bring “significant” economic advantages to other businesses in surrounding communities.

Cheves said the complex would cost about $1 billion to build, and would have an estimated $8 billion impact on the state’s economy within its first 10 years.

Where the House bill stands

Before any plans for the casino can be pursued, the South Carolina government must first pave the way.

Currently, the law does not allow for casinos, so the House bill must be passed in order for any plans to become a reality.

As of April 9, state legislative records showed that the bill was referred to the Ways and Means committee on March 6, which was the day it was first introduced. Other than six representatives signing on as sponsors, no other formal actions have been taken.

Regarding the bipartisan group who co-sponsored the bill, six were Republicans and 11 were Democrats.

The bill can be read in its entirety here.

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