News - March 16, 2025 - by Ray Hagar

A lost election for Treasurer of the State of Ohio in 1986 might have been the pivotal event that eventually led downtown developer Jeff Jacobs to Reno, he said recently on Nevada Newsmakers.

Jacobs, the CEO of Jacobs Entertainment, which owns about 200 acres of prime downtown Reno property, might have become an key player in Ohio politics as state treasurer if he had won the election, never to focus on a career as a real estate developer and gaming operator.

"Well, so then I ran for state office," he told host Sam Shad. "I lost. And then I decided to go full time into development.

"And so I expanded my (Cleveland) waterfront development, I also got into gaming, buying the Gold Dust West 30 years ago," he added.

Jacobs, after winning the Republican primary for treasurer in 1986, lost to incumbent Democrat Mary Ellen Withrow by about 290,000 votes in the 3-million vote general election. She was a tough out, winning a third term in 1990.

Withrow later served as U.S. Treasurer under President Bill Clinton. Her U.S. Treasury biography lists her as the only person to hold the office of treasurer at the local, state and national levels.

In 1986, Jacobs was serving in the Ohio House of Representatives from the 6th District, first elected in 1982.

He had earlier worked as a budget analyst for Cleveland Mayor George Voinovich and traded government bonds on Wall Street, according to media reports.

"I was young and in the minority," Jacobs said about his time as a Republican state representative. "So I had a seat in the back row and I got to see how it worked."

He also dabbled in real estate development while serving as a citizen lawmaker, "But it was difficult to do both," he told host Sam Shad.

Strong family name

In Cleveland, Jacobs was blessed with a respected family name. His father, Richard Jacobs, and his uncle, David Jacobs, bought the Cleveland Indians baseball team that same year Jeff Jacobs ran for state treasurer, according to various reports.

The Jacobs' ownership of the storied franchise lasted until 1999 and the Jacobs brothers earned a reputation as excellent owners. David Jacobs died in 1992 and Richard Jacobs owned the team for seven more years.

Jacobs' father was also a renown real-estate developer, known for development of some of the finest malls in Ohio and other eastern states. He was vital in Jeff Jacobs' career as a developer. The son also credits his father for instilling in him an appreciation of art.

Richard Jacobs' ownership of the Cleveland baseball team, now the Guardians, marked some of the most successful years in team's 124-year history. The Indians advanced to the World Series twice under Jacobs' ownership and won the American League Central Division title five years in a row (1995-1999).

First big real-estate development

Jacobs first gained experience in developing rundown neighborhoods into bustling entertainment/residential areas in early in the 1980s, after earning a masters degree in urban studies at Cleveland State University in 1979.

Back then, he was a primary developer of the Cleveland waterfront's Nautica complex on the Cuyahoga River -- a crowning achievement in Cleveland 's gentrification and home to the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.

The Cleveland waterfront development and Jacobs' plans in Reno will become the "bookends" of his career, Jacobs said.

"I started 40 years ago in Cleveland with the Waterfront entertainment district and housing. And so now I'm kind of finishing up my career in Reno with a multifaceted, development project as well," he said.

Transforming rundown areas of Reno was less gruesome than it was in Cleveland, he said.

"The first building I bought (in Cleveland), I went in the basement and there were two dead bodies floating in water," Jacobs said.

"It was a dumping ground for criminals," he added. "And it was derelict, former industrial land, the steel mills in that area. So it was everything you could ever think of for a bad place."

Yet he saw the potential: "We had a lot of upside because it was a waterfront."

On to Reno

He saw similar potential for a run-down motel area of Downtown Reno that had been decimated by bigger hotel/casinos and the rise of California tribal gaming.

Before the MGM Grand (now Grand Sierra Resort) opened in 1978 with more than 1,000 rooms, Reno had fewer hotel rooms tied to large hotels. The motels were vital for temporary housing for the city's visitors.

"So now there's an opportunity for me to come in and start to buy," Jacobs recalled. "So I bought a lot of those motels that were here in the 60s -- for California customers who weren't coming anymore. And they were basically turning into flop houses.

"So we bought 12 or 13 of them. And, the law-abiding citizens, senior citizens (living there), we helped (get new housing)," Jacobs said. "We spent over $1 million helping them to relocate downtown or near downtown."

However, the motels were home to some riff-raff, too, Jacobs added.

"And there's a few bad boys," he said. "So we had to help them get on the bus. The police department and I sent them down the road."

Jacobs acknowledged the controversy surrounding demolishing the old motels. At the time, Reno was facing a housing crisis at many levels, including a severe lack of low-income housing.

"There's a couple folks in town that wanted to keep things the way they were," Jacobs said. "But when we offered to take them inside those hotels, they didn't want to go inside."

Shad described the motels as "rat-infested" in his questioning.

"And as you say, they were rat infested (but also) crime ridden and pit-bull occupied," Jacobs said. "You'd have, like, four or five fellows in their 20s just coming into town and just sharing a room and then going out and creating some havoc in the area.

"And, there was no good coming out of it," Jacobs said.

Relationship with the Caranos

Jacobs' holdings border those of Caesars Entertainment, a giant in the global gaming industry. Reno's Eldorado Resorts, with members of the Carano family in key positions, acquired Caesars in 2020.

Reno's Gary Carano, star athlete at local Wooster High in the late 1960s, is the executive chairman of the Caesars Board of Directors.

"We've known each other a long time," Jacobs said of the Carano family. "I used to own a racetrack in West Virginia, which they ended up buying. They grew their company into the Eldorado and now Caesars. And they've done a great job.

"Their position in Reno is probably different than any other city that Caesars is in ... they're the dominant player here," Jacobs added.

Later, Jacobs said about the Caranos: "I just encourage them to join me and continue to reinvest in the area, which they are doing."

Jacobs take a benign attitude toward any perceived competition with Caesars Entertainment.

"I try to get along with everybody. I've got my hands full," Jacobs said. "We're the little gaming engine that could. So we keep our heads down and just try to keep growing it. And, we think if we do a good job, we'll get our fair share of market. And I wish everybody in the market well."