Casino developer looking at Mass. slots parlor
Chicago-based casino developer looking at Millbury, Mass. for slots parlor bidAssociated Press – Wed, Jul 10, 2013
MILLBURY, Mass. (AP) -- A Chicago-based casino developer that ended talks for a in Worcester, Mass. now says it is working with officials in Millbury about finding a site there for a $200 million facility.
Mass Gaming & Entertainment CEO Greg Carlin said Tuesday the company expects to choose a site in town soon. MGE is a subsidiary of Rush Street Gaming.
Millbury Town Manager Bob Spain said the project would create 400 new permanent [LOW WAGE] jobs and provide needed revenue.
Under Massachusetts gambling law, the town would negotiate a host agreement for voters to approve before the project could be considered for the state's single slots parlor license.
Three other companies also are working on slots parlor bids.
MGE and Worcester officials announced last month they weren't able to reach an agreement.
http://news.yahoo.com/casino-developer-looking-mass-slots-144519893.html
Casino in Tewksbury?
Could a casino in Tewksbury look like this?
Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway in Bangor, ME Source: Penn National Gaming, Inc. websitePosted: Friday, July 12, 2013 7:28 am | Updated: 1:06 pm, Fri Jul 12, 2013.
TEWKSBURY and WYOMISSING, PA - A casino development firm and the Town of Tewksbury in a joint statement announced late Thursday an effort to bring a slots-only casino to north Tewksbury.According to a press release, the project, developed by Penn National Gaming, Inc., is budgeted at more than $200 million and would be located at 300 Ames Pond Drive, near the intersection of 495 and Route 133 – Andover Street. Penn National will bring its ‘Hollywood’ casino brand to the 30-acre site, offering “multiple dining options and other amenities.”
“We are encouraged by the preliminary discussions we’ve had with town leadership and hope to quickly come to an agreement on a project that would bring significant economic benefits to Tewksbury and the entire Merrimack Valley region in the form of new jobs and revenue,” said Eric Schippers, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at Penn National Gaming.
Local officials offered support for the project.
“Penn National Gaming is one of the nation’s largest regional casino operators and has an established record of building strong community partnerships and delivering on their commitments,” said Richard Montuori, Tewksbury Town Manager. “We are excited about their interest in Tewksbury.”
“The economic benefits to Tewksbury from a project of this size and scale would be substantial,” said Scott Wilson, Chairman of the Tewksbury Board of Selectmen. “This is an important economic development opportunity that we need to fully explore.”
Representatives from Penn National will offer a presentation at the Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night, July 16, beginning at 7:00 pm. Applications for the state’s sole slot license must be submitted to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission by October 4th, 2013, following passage of a referendum in the applicant’s host community, leaving little time to develop that proposal and ballot question.
This proposal represents the fifth slot proposal in the state, including efforts in Worcester, Leominster, Raynham Park, and Plainridge Racecourse.
The closest developed casino by this firm is in Bangor, Maine, which began as a slots-only casino in 2006 and recently added table games in 2012. That location includes nearly 1,000 slot machines, 16 table games, and a hotel. According to the Bangor Daily News, between August 2009 and August 2010, the average monthly net revenue at Hollywood Slots was just over $5 million, and revenue never dipped below $4 million in any month. Revenue did reduce slightly in 2011, but has increased and jobs have been added since the introduction of table games in 2012.
Penn National proposed an $800 million casino in Springfield, MA last fall that would include a 300,000 square foot casino with 5,000 slot machines, table games, a poker room with up to thirty tables, and a 500 room hotel. Springfield chose MGM Resorts in April 2013 to move forward in the development process and the city will have a referendum vote Tuesday, July 16.
UPDATED: The Town Crier reached out to Jay Donovan of the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG), the regional planning agency to which Tewksbury belongs, to find out the role of NMCOG in this process. Donovan indicated that NMCOG was only recently made aware of Penn Gaming's interest and stated that he would be contacting NMCOG's regional planning agency (RPA) counterparts in Springfield and Taunton later Friday to determine the specific responsibilities the local RPA may have.
“We are encouraged by the preliminary discussions we’ve had with town leadership and hope to quickly come to an agreement on a project that would bring significant economic benefits to Tewksbury and the entire Merrimack Valley region in the form of new jobs and revenue,” said Eric Schippers, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at Penn National Gaming.
Local officials offered support for the project.
“Penn National Gaming is one of the nation’s largest regional casino operators and has an established record of building strong community partnerships and delivering on their commitments,” said Richard Montuori, Tewksbury Town Manager. “We are excited about their interest in Tewksbury.”
“The economic benefits to Tewksbury from a project of this size and scale would be substantial,” said Scott Wilson, Chairman of the Tewksbury Board of Selectmen. “This is an important economic development opportunity that we need to fully explore.”
Representatives from Penn National will offer a presentation at the Selectmen meeting on Tuesday night, July 16, beginning at 7:00 pm. Applications for the state’s sole slot license must be submitted to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission by October 4th, 2013, following passage of a referendum in the applicant’s host community, leaving little time to develop that proposal and ballot question.
This proposal represents the fifth slot proposal in the state, including efforts in Worcester, Leominster, Raynham Park, and Plainridge Racecourse.
The closest developed casino by this firm is in Bangor, Maine, which began as a slots-only casino in 2006 and recently added table games in 2012. That location includes nearly 1,000 slot machines, 16 table games, and a hotel. According to the Bangor Daily News, between August 2009 and August 2010, the average monthly net revenue at Hollywood Slots was just over $5 million, and revenue never dipped below $4 million in any month. Revenue did reduce slightly in 2011, but has increased and jobs have been added since the introduction of table games in 2012.
Penn National proposed an $800 million casino in Springfield, MA last fall that would include a 300,000 square foot casino with 5,000 slot machines, table games, a poker room with up to thirty tables, and a 500 room hotel. Springfield chose MGM Resorts in April 2013 to move forward in the development process and the city will have a referendum vote Tuesday, July 16.
UPDATED: The Town Crier reached out to Jay Donovan of the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG), the regional planning agency to which Tewksbury belongs, to find out the role of NMCOG in this process. Donovan indicated that NMCOG was only recently made aware of Penn Gaming's interest and stated that he would be contacting NMCOG's regional planning agency (RPA) counterparts in Springfield and Taunton later Friday to determine the specific responsibilities the local RPA may have.
$200 million slots facility proposed for Ames Pond site.
http://homenewshere.com/tewksbury_town_crier/news/article_32c7c242-eae6-11e2-bbf5-0019bb2963f4.html
Leominster slots plan moves ahead
Gaming panel gives Cordish OK to continue application
BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday gave approval for The Cordish Cos. to continue with its application to open a slot-machine casino on Jungle Road in Leominster. "We're obviously very pleased to move forward onto the next phase of the project with the state and look forward to working with the people of the city on the project," said The Cordish Cos. President Joseph Weinberg. The commission's Investigations and Enforcement Bureau conducted a seven-month investigation into the company's administration and personnel looking for character and financial flaws.
The commission also ruled Rush Street Gaming of Chicago is suitable to move forward with plans to apply for the slot-machine casino license.
It expects to hold hearings and rule on suitability of two more companies with applications July 25. The state is issuing a single license for a slot-machine casino as well as three licenses for full casinos. The Cordish Cos. is doing business in Massachusetts under the name PPE Casino Resorts MA LLC and Rush Street Gaming is using the name Mass Gaming and Entertainment LLC. "One of the things we think is different for our company is we are private," Weinberg told the commission. "I am a partner in the company, all our principals are involved day-to-day in every facet, from development as well as the operational side," Weinberg said.
Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby warned Weinberg and Rush Street Gaming representative attorney John Donnelly of Atlantic City, N.J., that they must meet deadlines for the application process or be disqualified.
"We very much want you to be a player," Crosby said. "It's very important to us, as everybody has heard, but the deadlines are what the deadlines are." Results of public referendum votes for proposed host communities are due to the commission by Oct. 4. The Cordish Cos. is a real-estate development firm and operates an entertainment business. Its first forays into gaming were the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which it developed but did not manage or operate in both Hollywood, Fla., and Tampa, Fla, said Karen Wells, director of the commission's Investigations and Enforcement Bureau. The company developed and managed Indiana Live! from 2007 to 2010, then settled a lawsuit with the owner in 2012. It developed and still owns Maryland Live! in Hanover, Md., which opened in June 2012. It is also applying for a gaming license in Philadelphia. The Leominster facility would be the company's first development in New England and would be smaller than the Maryland site, which has 3,000 employees, Weinberg said. "In Maryland, we're the highest-grossing casino in the entire mid-Atlantic," he said. The bureau's investigation delved into the five executives of the company as well as a trust associated with it, Wells said. It issued a 99-page report on the company, and Wells recommended its suitability. "Although its operational experience in the gaming sector has been of relatively limited duration both in Indiana and Maryland, there are no material issues pertaining to The Cordish Companies' record of gaming regulatory compliance, its dealings with vendors and business partners, or litigation matters," the report said. Commissioners did raise concerns about regulatory violations and compliance reports. There were 17 violations over 26 months of the Maryland Live! casino, said H. Theodore Grove of Spectrum Gaming Group and lead writer of the report on The Cordish Companies. Most of them were isolated incidents that were quickly fixed, Grove said. Commissioner James F. McHugh said the report indicated that slot machines found to be paying out too much money were removed from the gaming floor. The state issued a $2,500 fine that indicated it was a minor infraction, Grove said. The mistake was not in removing the machines to verify their accuracy, but in failing to notify the gaming commission according to normal procedure, Weinberg said. Most of the company's problems were in the first months of the facility's operations, Weinberg said. Crosby said he got the sense the company was going through the motions while following state compliance procedures because its three-member committee, which included an independent consultant, did not keep minutes of its meetings. "There is no indication anywhere that Cordish is anything but a first-rate company. However, saying that, this is a heart of the matter: You had an outside member who did not pick up the very rules he was there to pick up, so he's not cutting it," Crosby said. A City Council informational meeting with representatives of The Cordish Cos. scheduled to be held Monday at City Hall has been moved an hour later, to 8 p.m., said council President Susan Chalifoux Zephir.
Read more: http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_23647447/leominster-slots-plan-moves-ahead#ixzz2YwzZWy7S
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Would-be slots operators get state clearance
By Alli Knothe, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Two developers vying to build slots parlors in Central Massachusetts were given the thumbs up by the state gambling commission at a meeting Thursday which ruled that they passed initial background checks.
The meeting, which stretched into the afternoon, was held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
The board unanimously qualified Mass Gaming Entertainment, a subsidiary of Rush Street Gaming, and PPE Casino Resorts MA LLC, a subsidiary of the Cordish Co. Both entities passed background checks and can continue to the next phase of the application process.
Rush Street Gaming wants to build a slots parlor in Millbury after abandoning a project in Worcester. Cordish Co. is seeking approval in Leominster for a slots parlor.
Both companies are competing with two other entities for the state's sole slots license, according to the Gaming Commission. Plainridge Racecourse and Raynham Park are being reviewed by gambling officials this month.
However, Penn National Gaming, which recently lost out to MGM for a resort-style casino in Springfield, is talking to Tewksbury officials about developing a slots parlor at Interstate 495 and Route 133, the Boston Globe reporter Thursday.
"It's an arduous, lengthy, and time-consuming process," said the lawyer representing Mass Gaming during the meeting.
The full report was 211 pages, although a compressed version was submitted to the board to protect private information of those who were investigated.
The commission investigated eleven people and nine entities, the majority of which were trust funds.
Background checks for the individuals involved recorded interviews, five years of tax returns, even traffic violations for each person to assure the board that those involved in oversight of the companies demonstrate good character and integrity.
"There is no record of any prohibited political contributions or civil litigation history that would be adverse to these qualifiers being found suitable," the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau of the Gaming Commission said in its supporting documentation.
The lawyer representing Mass. Gaming said the company has "found Millbury very receptive" and is hopeful for discussions going forward.
Before approval, board commissioner Enrique Zuniga said he was pleased to see the company's "significant involvement in charity work."
While board members gave the go-ahead, there were some reservations during the two-hour discussion on the topic.
Several board members expressed concern with the number of violations at the other Rush-owned casinos dealing with admitting underaged guests.
The company argued that the numbers were in the single digits and said it works hard to keep the number as low as possible, adding that "we don't want kids in the casino. They're of no use."
A consultant hired to help with investigating the developers promised to show the board national statistics regarding casinos admitting people under 21 years old to help put the number of violations into perspective.
Commissioner Bruce Stebbins noted at the end of the meeting that he would like to have further discussion on ways the state could deter people who are underaged from attempting to get through security.
The board was also uneasy about the discrepancy of salaries in the hierarchy of Rush Gaming. Stephen P. Crosby, chairman of the board, said he was puzzled that while about a dozen people at the top were receiving large salaries, there were many "serious players" who were being paid much more modest compensations.
The fear, he explained, is that those people may be "vulnerable to financial trouble."
The company assured the board it was not a "mom and pop shop" in Chicago, and said that the difference is between owners and employees. Its lawyer noted that those employees who are being compensated less would not have the power to give out favors that might land the company in an unethical situation.
A consultant also explained that the issue has been investigated and will continue to be reviewed.
The board will hold another public hearing to determine the suitability for Plainridge Racetrack and Raynham Park.
The next step for the developers will be Phase II of the investigation, where the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau will look deeper into the companies' finances.
The meeting, which stretched into the afternoon, was held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
The board unanimously qualified Mass Gaming Entertainment, a subsidiary of Rush Street Gaming, and PPE Casino Resorts MA LLC, a subsidiary of the Cordish Co. Both entities passed background checks and can continue to the next phase of the application process.
Rush Street Gaming wants to build a slots parlor in Millbury after abandoning a project in Worcester. Cordish Co. is seeking approval in Leominster for a slots parlor.
Both companies are competing with two other entities for the state's sole slots license, according to the Gaming Commission. Plainridge Racecourse and Raynham Park are being reviewed by gambling officials this month.
However, Penn National Gaming, which recently lost out to MGM for a resort-style casino in Springfield, is talking to Tewksbury officials about developing a slots parlor at Interstate 495 and Route 133, the Boston Globe reporter Thursday.
"It's an arduous, lengthy, and time-consuming process," said the lawyer representing Mass Gaming during the meeting.
The full report was 211 pages, although a compressed version was submitted to the board to protect private information of those who were investigated.
The commission investigated eleven people and nine entities, the majority of which were trust funds.
Background checks for the individuals involved recorded interviews, five years of tax returns, even traffic violations for each person to assure the board that those involved in oversight of the companies demonstrate good character and integrity.
"There is no record of any prohibited political contributions or civil litigation history that would be adverse to these qualifiers being found suitable," the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau of the Gaming Commission said in its supporting documentation.
The lawyer representing Mass. Gaming said the company has "found Millbury very receptive" and is hopeful for discussions going forward.
Before approval, board commissioner Enrique Zuniga said he was pleased to see the company's "significant involvement in charity work."
While board members gave the go-ahead, there were some reservations during the two-hour discussion on the topic.
Several board members expressed concern with the number of violations at the other Rush-owned casinos dealing with admitting underaged guests.
The company argued that the numbers were in the single digits and said it works hard to keep the number as low as possible, adding that "we don't want kids in the casino. They're of no use."
A consultant hired to help with investigating the developers promised to show the board national statistics regarding casinos admitting people under 21 years old to help put the number of violations into perspective.
Commissioner Bruce Stebbins noted at the end of the meeting that he would like to have further discussion on ways the state could deter people who are underaged from attempting to get through security.
The board was also uneasy about the discrepancy of salaries in the hierarchy of Rush Gaming. Stephen P. Crosby, chairman of the board, said he was puzzled that while about a dozen people at the top were receiving large salaries, there were many "serious players" who were being paid much more modest compensations.
The fear, he explained, is that those people may be "vulnerable to financial trouble."
The company assured the board it was not a "mom and pop shop" in Chicago, and said that the difference is between owners and employees. Its lawyer noted that those employees who are being compensated less would not have the power to give out favors that might land the company in an unethical situation.
A consultant also explained that the issue has been investigated and will continue to be reviewed.
The board will hold another public hearing to determine the suitability for Plainridge Racetrack and Raynham Park.
The next step for the developers will be Phase II of the investigation, where the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau will look deeper into the companies' finances.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130711/NEWS/307119518/1116
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