Name:Casino Revolution - PHL Local Gambling, LLC
Location:
Front Street and Pattison Avenue, within the food
distribution district in Philadelphia and near the South Philly stadium complex
area.
Estimated Cost:$428 million.
Size:
415,400 square feet, including 176,800 for casino and
238,500 for a 250-room hotel.
Gaming:
2,400 slot machines , 80 table games, 25 poker tables.
Theme:
“We’re talking about a destination facility, some place with
a huge hotel, a four-star hotel, with restaurants, will all sorts of things
that will attract people from all over the East Coast, actually, maybe all over
the country,” said investor Walter P. Lomax,
a physician and longtime Philadelphia resident, on PHL’s presentation
video.
The Details:
Situated about four blocks east of Citizens Bank Park,
Casino Revolution would be a mile from the closest residential zoning, meaning
it could face the least neighborhood resistance from the six proposed projects.
Like the two other proposed casinos near the stadiums, it’s close to exits from
I-95, I-76 and the Walt Whitman Bridge. But Casino Revolution is farther from
mass transit – about a mile hike from AT&T Station of the Broad Street
Line. Public access will be from Front Street.
The principals say Casino Revolution could “serve as a major
hub for the ongoing revitalization of the Food Distribution District.”
Among the plans:
A “four-star,
first-class” 250-room hotel would have 220 deluxe rooms, 30 suites and a
fitness center.
Dining options
would include a sports bar, cafe, buffet, steakhouse, Italian restaurant,
coffee/espresso bar, and “team dining room.”
2,800 parking
spaces would include 1,600 on a parking deck, 800 in a lot, and 400 for staff.
Impact:
The $428 million
project would involve an estimated $65.2 million in construction payroll,
creating the equivalent of 1,235 construction jobs over 12 months.
The casino-hotel
complex would employ an estimated 1,369 people, with $34.5 million in payroll
and $4.3 million in tips a year, plus benefits.
Annual government
revenues generated are estimated to include $141 million for annual gaming
taxes and regulatory fees, $11.5 million in payroll-related taxes, $4.1 million
in property taxes, $1.8 million in sales and use taxes for the state, $300,000
for the city.
The estimated 4.1
million patron visits a year, including 131,000 overnight stays, is expected to
spend or gamble more than $56.5 million.
Who’s involved:
“From the top down, PHL represents local pride and local
talent,” declares a PHL Local Gambling promotional video. At the top of the
ownership is South Philadelphia produce tycoon Joseph G. Procacci, with a
dominating stake of 80 percent.
Procacci has been called the ‘Tomato King’ because he and
his brother, Michael, reportedly sell about 20 percent of the nation’s fresh
tomatoes. (See article: “Tomato King goes to war for his casino.”)
As the current round of casino proposals neared, potential
bidders kept trying to buy property Joseph Procacci owns in South Philly.
Having done some developing of his own – including turning 2,000 acres of
tomato fields into a luxury golf course community in Naples, Fla., with his
brother – the decision was made to make
his own casino bid.
Philadelphia-born-and-raised physician Walter P. Lomax Jr.
has about a 12 percent share of PHL through Pheasant Hill Parters, LLC.
For casino development expertise they’ve partnered with
Joseph J. Canfora, founder and CEO of Merit Management Group, which has helped
launch gambling parlors across the nation. Canfora and his wife, Teresa, have a
7.3 percent share in PHL through an entity called J2RP Capital LLC.
Officers of PHL include directors Mark Sturbens, John Burke,
Craig Sullivan and Bennett Lomax, as well as CFO John G. Costello.
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