Name: Market8 -
Market East Associates, LP
Location:
8th and Market Streets, Center City, site of a current
300-space parking lot.
Estimated cost: $500
million.
Gaming:
2,400 slot machines, 82 banked table games and 30 poker
tables.
Project size
315,000 square feet of casino, restaurant and entertainment
space, plus a hotel.
Theme:
A “world-class, multi-dimensional, urban entertainment
center with a casino at its core and a four-plus star hotel above.” Market8 is
the only of the six proposed casino sites proposed in Center City.
The Details:
Market8 would be situated between 8th and 9th Streets on
Market Street, and bordered by Ranstead Street.
The proposal calls for 315,000 square feet of casino, restaurant and
entertainment space.
The site is two blocks west of the Independence Visitors
Center, and about three blocks east of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. It
is adjacent to The Gallery shopping mall. It is also just blocks from
Washington Square, Jewelers’ Row and Chinatown.
This area of Market Street was once dominated by department
stores such as Strawbridge & Clothier, Lit Brothers, and Gimbels. But those
have long been closed and Philadelphia has been working to shore up the
corridor.
Also nearby are the Marriott Convention Center Hotel, the
Loews Hotel, the Reading Terminal Market, the Hard Rock Cafe, and other tourist
draws.
Among the plans:
An underground lot would contain 1,000 valet parking spaces.
An additional 340 self-parking spaces are being proposed on the 700 block of
Market Street.
The first floor would not contain gaming. Rather, Market
Street Associates envisions an interior "boulevard" that spans from
8th to 9th street along Market. The first floor would hold five full-service
restaurants, a cafe, and a boutique.
The second and third floors would provide the main gaming
experience: with a bar, food court, and mezzanine on the second floor, and more
slot machines, table games, and a VIP lounge on the third floor.
The fourth floor would host a poker room, and concert and
banquet space.
The fifth floor would serve as the lobby of a 12-story hotel
and a host a restaurant with a terrace overlooking Market Street.
The Market East group touts the site’s proximity to mass
transit. The nearby Market East station connects directly with the Pennsylvania
suburbs. The PATCO stop to South Jersey, SEPTA’s Market-Frankford and Broad
Street lines, are all within a block or two of the proposed site. SEPTA, Greyhound and Megabus buses connect
nearby. In addition, a high-speed Amtrak rail line is proposed to connect New
York City and Washington, D.C. from a station below 8th Street. But no timetable or funding has been
announced for that project.
The 8th and Market site also has the potential to draw heavy
foot-traffic. A Market East Associates study estimates 17,500 people walk past
the site daily.
The downside could come from motorists from not wishing to
drive through Center City congestion. The Ben Franklin Bridge and Vine Street
Expressway are just a few blocks away, however.
Impact:
Consultants hired by Market Street Associates project
Market8 would draw 4.7 million patrons in its first year. Of those, 2.7 million
would come directly from Philadelphia. It’s anticipated that the project would
produce $207 million in tax revenue to Pennsylvania in the first year of
operation in 2016, and $18 million to Philadelphia. It’s anticipated to
generate 5,300 one-time jobs and 6,200 regular jobs.
Who’s involved:
The ownership of Market East Associates is composed of eight
corporations or partnerships that include a variety of influential individuals
from Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs. Among the notable principals are
Kenneth N. Goldenberg, Ira Lubert, David Adelman, Michael J. Heller, William
Landman and gaming corporations associated with the Mohegan Tribe.
Goldenberg is founder of the Goldenberg Group of Blue Bell,
Montgomery County, and an owner of the current parking lot at 8th and Market.
Lubert, a real estate investor; Heller, CEO of the large
Philadelphia law firm of Cozen O’Connor, and Landman, CEO of CMS Companies are
also principals in the currently operating Valley Forge Casino Resort in King
of Prussia, according to documents on file with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control
Board.
Adelman is CEO of Campus Apartments.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority operates the Mohegan Sun
at Pocono Downs, a racino in Luzerne County, Pa.
Other principals in Market8 include Inner City Gaming, LLC,
which is comprised of local business executives Dennis E. Cook, Willie Johnson,
Bernard W. Smalley Sr., Cheryl McKissack, Mary V. Lawton, William R. Miller and
Thomas A. Leonard.
How they’ll pay for
it:
Market East Associates plans to put up $150 million for the
project and finance $350 million through Deutsche Bank.
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