ok, So I do hard money loans for a living & project development & I got to thinking well daym why don't I do it my self & with my own companyI live right in Philly right now & we are going to be having a huge boom with al the casinos coming in - I am well connected in my city & have found land on the water front that would be a crazy mulit million dollar investment the issue is I have no start up capital myself & no knowledge on too much of anything outside of getting it financedI do how ever have contacts inside the city & state to get zoned & permitted & everything else so what are my next steps & advice on how to proceed ?

There is a revitalization push going on including a recently constructed casino and racetrack.

Hard Rock is my favorite casino/hotel and I love talking Las Vegas Real Estate!

Before the downfall, I think the casinos were in a constant race of building the biggest (and most expensive) place to attract new visitors and as a result became massively overleveraged so when things slowed down, they got caught.

And about 2% in large denomination chips in a safety deposit box in a Vegas casino

My area of interest is Columbus, and in that city it looks like the proposed casino will be open in late 2012.

BTW...Prudent states like Texas are being forced to pay for the property casino states right now with their tax dollars.

Private devleopment funds investing $100's of millions, local government incentives and tax abatements, new streetcar program just received a $25 million Fed grant and is close to fully funded (and will run directly through OTR connecting UC and downtown), new urban casino development nearby, and with CBD and UC close - it is wedged between the largest employers in the city.I know Cincinnati has a "rust belt" feel to it, and indeed the population has decreased over the past 30 years but has stabilized (will be interested to see 2010 census on the area).

What should I hit up while I'm there other than the casinos?

And I've probably thrown away more money at the casino than you have ever made.