It’s head-butting time between Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and developer Jeff Jacobs, who suddenly has come forth with a proposal for creating a big convention center hotel complete with a casino in downtown Cleveland.

In an open letter to civic and business leaders in Northeast Ohio, Mr. Jacobs has urged them to oppose a proposed constitutional amendment pushed by Mr. Gilbert and casino operator Penn National Gaming Inc. that would allow the creation of a casino in each of four Ohio cities — Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo.

Instead, Mr. Jacobs is promoting the idea of creating a 1,000-room, convention/casino hotel valued at more than $500 million that would be adjacent to the planned convention center and medical merchandise mart in downtown Cleveland.

“I believe the maximum benefit that Northeast Ohio can obtain from the introduction of gaming is the development of a 1,000-room convention hotel located adjacent to the convention center/medical mart site,” said Mr. Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Jacobs Investments Inc. He also is a large investor in MTR Gaming Inc., which operates the Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in Chester, W. Va., and Presque Isle Downs and Casino in Erie, Pa., both of which would face new regional competition if the Gilbert/Penn National proposal won the approval of Ohio voters in the Nov. 3 election.

Jacobs says others would built it

Mr. Jacobs said the project he proposes would be similar to the Hilton convention hotel adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center.

In a press release touting his proposal, Mr. Jacobs said he has no interest in developing the convention center

hotel himself “as it will attract and capture the interest of large, top-tier gaming companies such as MGM and Wynn Resorts.”

According to the press release, a large convention center hotel “is the one convention and tourism engine that Cleveland has been unable to attract.”

“No private developer has accepted the risks associated with the creation of this missing piece of Cleveland’s convention/visitor infrastructure requirements,” the announcement states. “Without such a development, Cleveland will not maximize its effort to draw these visitor dollars to the region.”

Defeat of Gilbert/Penn National plan pushed

Mr. Jacobs said because of the recent executive order by Gov. Ted Strickland that allows for Ohio’s seven horse racetracks to operate thousands of video slot machines under the auspices of the Ohio Lottery, “the community now has a path to turn the vision of a 1,000-room convention/casino hotel into a reality.”

“If the development were located on Cuyahoga County or city of Cleveland land adjacent to the convention center/medical mart, then local government could enter into a land lease with its developer of choice,” Mr. Jacobs stated.

“Such a land lease combined with local taxes would more than double the local government annual revenue projected by the Gilbert/Penn National proposal,” he added.

In order to advance his proposal, Mr. Jacobs plans to push for the defeat Nov. 3 of the proposed constitutional amendment put forth by Mr. Gilbert and Penn National.

“With the defeat of the Gilbert/Penn National casino proposal, public and private leadership in Northeast Ohio will be able to focus on a far superior project,” Mr. Jacobs said.