SAN JOSE -- City officials will consider permit approval Monday that would clear the way for the new Casino M8trix card room to open within weeks.
San Jose officials initially planned the permit hearing for Thursday but said Wednesday that it has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. Monday in the City Council chamber at San Jose City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara St., before Police Chief Chris Moore, whose department oversees card rooms.
The rescheduling marks yet another delay for the card room's owners. They had hoped to open the $50 million Casino M8trix on Airport Parkway in early April but were unable to secure the permit in time or to convince a judge that the city was taking too long to approve it.
"Sadly, I'm used to this from San Jose," Casino M8trix owner Eric Swallow said. He had hoped to begin operations at the new card room July 31 with a grand opening Aug. 9 and 10 assuming permit approval Thursday, but said the latest rescheduling will delay those plans by a week.
Casino M8trix represents the reinvention of San Jose's old Garden City Casino, an institution on Saratoga Avenue for decades that Swallow and his partners purchased five years ago with an eye toward making a fresh start from a history of criminal activity, bankruptcy and legal battles with the city under previous owners.
Garden City is one of only two card rooms allowed under city law. Although it will be marketed publicly as Casino M8trix, its permit will remain under
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"Garden City," just as San Jose's other card room, Bay 101 located across the 101 freeway on Bering Drive, is permitted under its original name as "Sutter's Place."
Garden City has hired about 300 additional employees for the larger M8trix card room whose jobs are in limbo until it opens. The M8trix will offer a restaurant and sports bar, luxury furnishings, colorful LED lighting and even a custom floral aroma. Owners have spent more than $1 million on promotions including plugs during San Francisco Giants baseball games.
Part of the permitting delay in recent months involved the card room's request to allow additional gambling in a room on the top floor of the new casino's eight-story tower. That issue remains unresolved. Monday's permit hearing would allow gaming only on the main ground-floor level, and it remains unclear when an eighth-floor gaming permit might be considered.
Permit approval would allow the card room to open the next day, but Swallow said it will take a week to transfer Garden City's liquor license. He said the city's gaming administrator has recommended approval for the ground-floor gambling. But city officials Wednesday said the administrator's report was still being finalized and unavailable.
Contact John Woolfolk at 408-975-9346. Follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/johnwoolfolk1.
San Jose's Casino M8trix by the numbers
San Jose officials will consider Monday whether to allow Garden City Casino to relocate to Airport Parkway and operate as the new Casino M8trix.
Casino M8trix by the numbers:
  • 55,000: Square footage of new Casino M8trix gaming floor.

  • 12,000: Square footage of current Garden City gaming floor.

  • $50 million: Cost of new Casino M8trix building.

  • 165: Height in feet of Casino M8trix's tower.

  • 8: number of stories in M8trix tower and the floor where owners hope to have additional gaming. It's considered a lucky number in Asian cultures.

  • 16.7 million: Number of color combinations M8trix's Las Vegas-designed light sculpture can produce.

  • 2: Number of card rooms San Jose allows (the other is Bay 101 casino).

  • 49: Number of gaming tables allowed at each San Jose card room.

  • 79: Number of gaming tables that would be allowed at each card room if voters approve a November ballot.