The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has awarded the
city's second casino license to the developers of a hotel-casino planned for
the Sports Complex in South Philadelphia.
To be called Live! Hotel and Casino and located at Packer
Avenue and Darien Street, the project won out over three other proposed
casinos: two in Center City and another one on Packer Avenue closer to the
Delaware River at Front Street. A joint venture of Cordish Cos. of Baltimore
and Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Inc. is the developer.
The board voted unanimously in favor of Live! during a
special meeting at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
During the meeting an officer took away a sign being held
by anti-gambling activist Helen Gym saying "Don't gamble with our
communities."
The selection marks another chapter - not necessarily the
final one - in a process that started in July 2012, when the Gaming Board said
it would accept applications for the license originally awarded in December
2006 to the Foxwoods group.
Foxwoods lost the license four years later after the
project failed to get off the ground because the group, including 13 local
investors with close ties to former Gov. Ed Rendell, failed to secure
financing.
Six applicants met the Nov. 15, 2012, deadline.
After Steve Wynn, who had proposed a $900 million complex
a half-mile north of SugarHouse Casino on the Delaware River, dropped out last
fall, the Gaming Board was left with the choice of the locations in Center City
and South Philadelphia.
The Center City locations were developer Ken Goldenberg's
Market8 at Eighth and Market Streets and developer Bart Blatstein's The
Provence in the former Inquirer building at 400 North Broad Street and
stretching west along Callowhill Street.
The other South Philadelphia proposal was offered Joseph
G. Procacci and to be named Casino Revolution.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has awarded
Philadelphia's second casino license to
(Penn National Gaming Inc., with a third South
Philadelphia proposal, ended its bid in June.)
Another alternative was for the board to back off and not
award the license after all, given the widespread worries that the Philadelphia
metro area doesn't have enough gamblers to support a fifth casino.
In awarding the license, the board apparently decided
that the state gaming law's mandate that it place two casinos in Philadelphia
trumped concerns about the likely cannibalization of the existing competitors:
SugarHouse in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Parx Casino in
Bensalem, Valley Forge Casino in King of Prussia, and Harrah's Philadelphia in
Chester.
At hearings before the board in January, each of the
applicants were asked to make a case for how they would tap into new markets
geographically or demographically, instead of simply taking business from
current operators.
Market8's pitch was that it would draw tourists and
conventioneers. At The Provence, the idea was that a higher-scale
"integrated" resort would attract gamblers that find little to like
at existing Philadelphia-area casinos.
In South Philadelphia, Casino Revolution touted its
location near the intersections of Interstates 76 and 95 as a way to broaden
the market geographically. The backers of Live! said they would be able attract
some of the eight million annual visitors to the stadium area to spend time
losing money at the casino before and after sports events.
Live! stood out among the applicants for a couple of
reasons.
Its revenue estimates were the lowest among the final
four applicants, with Live! executives assuring the board that their estimates
were low because they knew the market.
The financing for Live! relied far less on debt than the
proposals of the other applicants.
Slightly more than half of the $425 million needed to
build Live! is supposed to come from equity provided by Cordish Cos. and
Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment Inc., which is backed by Watche
"Bob" Manoukian, an ethnic Armenian, who already owns 85.84 percent
of Parx.
The rest of the money for Live! would come from a Bank of
America loan.
However, a gaming board official testified in January
that the partners could self-finance the proposed casino if needed.
Source: Philly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment