(Cleveland) -- The Horseshoe Casino Cleveland is doing what owner Dan Gilbert is hoping it would do, and that is to bring more people to downtown, and to generate business for other properties, such as restaurants and hotels. That's according to Len Komoroski, president of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena, who spoke Thursday morning with WTAM 1100's Bill Wills.

Komoroski says the casino's projection was to bring 5 million people to downtown Cleveland in one year, and he expects that mark to be broken. He points out figures from Positively Cleveland which show business at downtown hotels and restaurants have gone up since the casino's opening earlier this year.

According to Komoroski, since Horseshoe is a downtown casino, it was planned with the idea of people actually spending less time there than at other casinos around the country. "It's designed to be collaborative, interactive," says Komoroski.

He points out that tourism is the fourth-largest industry in Cuyahoga County, and Komoroski expects that to grow even more with this summer's opening of the new convention center and adjoining Medical Mart. "We're really teed up to realize our goal as a world-class destination," Komoroski told Wills.

But why downtown and not a suburban area? Komoroski says Gilbert has a desire to rebuild downtowns such as Cleveland and his hometown of Detroit through investments that will keep people in those cities. "Dan is such a believer in work, live and play 24/7 cities," according to Komorski.

In Cleveland, Gilbert currently owns, has interest in or operates the Cleveland Cavaliers, Quicken Loans Arena, Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and online ticketing company Veritix. A number of employees of Quicken Loans work out of Cleveland.

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