Billionaire developer Jeffrey Soffer has big plans for the Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach.
Soffer wants to replace the casino and former greyhound track at 831 North Federal Highway with a new 165,380-square-foot casino with slot machines and a bar, music venue, smoking lounge, card room, steakhouse and sports restaurant, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
The restaurants would span 34,300 square feet, while administrative offices would take 9,800 square feet. The plan calls for 1,700 parking spaces, including a four-story garage.
Las Vegas-based Steelman Partners is the architect.
The casino on the 23.8-acre site was built in 1963, the publication said, although the complex dates to 1934. The building spans 262,900 square feet.
Soffer, who leads Aventura-based Fontainebleau Development, paid $12.5 million for the property in 2018, when it was the Mardi Gras Casino. Soffer rebranded the casino and stopped the greyhound racing, which had been a staple of the facility for decades.
Last year, Soffer sold 12.3 acres of the site to multifamily developers but kept the rest of the land.
The proposed casino represents “the most significant reinvestment in the property’s history” and will improve its appearance while generating economic benefits for the city through jobs and commercial activity, Miami attorney Graham Penn said in application documents to the city.
The developer requested a waiver allowing a plat on the site that is larger than what the city allows. The city commission will consider the waiver application Oct. 13. If approved, Soffer can seek plat approval and move forward with a site plan application, the outlet said.
Soffer also owns Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a resort and casino, and the Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort. He’s pushed to add a casino to the Miami Beach resort, making $300,000 in contributions to political action committees and seeking approval to shift his gambling permit from the Big Easy Casino to the resort, The Real Deal previously reported. City officials and residents have repeatedly blocked the effort.
—Grace McClung
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