However, because of lawsuits by property owners, the city stalled on land purchases.

The deal died, and the casinos, happy where they are, announced they were not moving to the river.

Now, the city will keep the riverfront property it procured, and the casinos are forgiving a $150-million debt the city incurred purchasing that land.

"At the same time, we retain ownership of 42.5 acres of prime real estate near the General Motors Corp. world headquarters, helping set the stage for a major redevelopment of the east riverfront," Kilpatrick says. "That is a huge step forward in the continued rebuilding of Detroit."

The casinos have also agreed to build new restaurants and bars, new retail shops, theaters, ballrooms and convention facilities.

Each casino will also expand their gaming areas to 100,000 sf of gaming.

The $102 million will be paid in two equal installments, with the first installment due 60 days after the city council has approved the revised agreement and the remainder due June 1, 2003.

The casinos also agreed to remove a provision that required all three to have to approve the others' development agreements.

Greektown agrees to develop a plan to distribute 20% of the ownership interest in the casino to Detroit residents, with at least one-quarter of that interest being made available through a public offering. Greektown also agrees to construct an additional 4,000 parking spaces to serve its permanent facility.

Both Greektown and Motor City Casino agree to submit to the city within 60 days a specific site plan for their permanent facility along with a timeline for completion of the conversion to permanent facility. MGM agrees to submit its own plans once it has identified and purchased its permanent site.

The agreement specifies that MOM Grand Detroit's site must be located generally within an area bounded by Jefferson Avenue on the south; 1-375 on the east; I 75, Grand River and Sycamore Street on the north, and Trumbull Avenue on the west. The casino is responsible for locating and purchasing its site within those boundaries.

Each agreement envisions casinos spread throughout the downtown and says they can be no closer to one another than one-third of a mile without the consent of all three.

The temporary casinos' deals were set to expire March 31.