Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun Meet In Catskills Rivalry
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
2:00 p.m. EDT, June 5, 2013
Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos, separated by a mere 8 miles in southeastern Connecticut, are chasing casino licenses at sites about 40 miles apart in the Massachusetts towns of Palmer and Milford.
And now their interests are converging in New York state, where both have aligned themselves with developers with designs on the Catskills region.
But that's not all.
Foxwoods is partnering with a New York City developer to build a destination resort casino on a 500-acre Liberty site that includes Grossinger's, the fabled Catskills resort that closed decades ago.
Mitchell Grossinger Etess, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority's chief executive officer, grew up there. His grandmother, Jennie Grossinger, ran the place.
Ironic, yes?
"Yeah, I thought of that," Scott Butera, Foxwoods' CEO, said. "It's funny."
Irony first descended on the Catskills a couple of years ago when the Mohegan authority announced it would team with a Westchester, N.Y., developer to erect a $600 million racetrack casino at the site of the former Concord Hotel in Thompson, a Grossinger's rival when the two hotels were the toast of the Borscht Belt.
"Grossinger's and The Concord were rivals in very much the same way Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are," Etess said. "They were about the same distance away from each other, both big places that competed for the same guests, the same entertainment.
"It was already somewhat odd that I was working on a project at The Concord, and now with Foxwoods at Grossinger's, it's even more strange," he said. "It's very ironic -- more for me than the rest of the world."
Butera, who planned to meet with New York state officials today in Albany, said Foxwoods is keen on extending its brand into the Catskills.
"It would be a nice alternative for those who visit our Connecticut property, and it would help us develop a new customer base," he said.
According to Etess, the Mohegan Sun Concord project, which has been stalled for much of the past two years, "is in great shape to proceed."
"We've done a tremendous amount of work on the design, and a lot of approvals and permits are in place," he said. "We could act quickly."
Under a plan New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo unveiled last month, the Empire State could authorize up to three casinos in upstate regions. But the plan's fate, subject to approval by the legislature and perhaps voters in a November referendum, is uncertain.
If, somehow, the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods projects both materialized in the Catskills, Etess said he'd be OK with it.
"It would be odd, though, at least from my standpoint," he said.
http://www.courant.com/business/hcfoxwoods-mohegan-sun-catskills-20130605,0,2522751.story
And now their interests are converging in New York state, where both have aligned themselves with developers with designs on the Catskills region.
But that's not all.
Foxwoods is partnering with a New York City developer to build a destination resort casino on a 500-acre Liberty site that includes Grossinger's, the fabled Catskills resort that closed decades ago.
Mitchell Grossinger Etess, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority's chief executive officer, grew up there. His grandmother, Jennie Grossinger, ran the place.
Ironic, yes?
"Yeah, I thought of that," Scott Butera, Foxwoods' CEO, said. "It's funny."
Irony first descended on the Catskills a couple of years ago when the Mohegan authority announced it would team with a Westchester, N.Y., developer to erect a $600 million racetrack casino at the site of the former Concord Hotel in Thompson, a Grossinger's rival when the two hotels were the toast of the Borscht Belt.
"Grossinger's and The Concord were rivals in very much the same way Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are," Etess said. "They were about the same distance away from each other, both big places that competed for the same guests, the same entertainment.
"It was already somewhat odd that I was working on a project at The Concord, and now with Foxwoods at Grossinger's, it's even more strange," he said. "It's very ironic -- more for me than the rest of the world."
Butera, who planned to meet with New York state officials today in Albany, said Foxwoods is keen on extending its brand into the Catskills.
"It would be a nice alternative for those who visit our Connecticut property, and it would help us develop a new customer base," he said.
According to Etess, the Mohegan Sun Concord project, which has been stalled for much of the past two years, "is in great shape to proceed."
"We've done a tremendous amount of work on the design, and a lot of approvals and permits are in place," he said. "We could act quickly."
Under a plan New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo unveiled last month, the Empire State could authorize up to three casinos in upstate regions. But the plan's fate, subject to approval by the legislature and perhaps voters in a November referendum, is uncertain.
If, somehow, the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods projects both materialized in the Catskills, Etess said he'd be OK with it.
"It would be odd, though, at least from my standpoint," he said.
http://www.courant.com/business/hcfoxwoods-mohegan-sun-catskills-20130605,0,2522751.story
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