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Monday, September 2, 2013

"In casino game, Southeast could become land of the losers"

FROM: NoPlainvilleRacino
"In casino game, Southeast could become land of the losers"

"While it didn't necessarily foresee a dearth of new applicants for the Region C license, the Gaming Commission specifically set its schedule to allow losers of licenses in other regions to be major players here.

"Any gaming firms that pass the commission's first litmus test and are deemed suitable to operate a casino are not limited by the Sept. 30 initial application deadline and may reapply in Region C without having to pay an additional $400,000 nonrefundable fee that is required of new applicants....

"The anticipated land shopping already has played out just in the jockeying for licenses in the other two regions and for a slots parlor.

"Spurned by Springfield officials who chose a competing bid from MGM, Penn National Gaming moved on to seek a slots-only license in Tewksbury. Rejected again when town meeting voters refused to grant a zoning change needed for the gaming facility, Penn National now is reported to be in the market to acquire Plainridge Racecourse. The harness track has a prime location right off Interstate 495 in Plainville, but the commission ruled its current owners were unsuitable as gaming operators."

Read more:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130901%2FNEWS%2F309010327




By Steve DeCosta
sdecosta@s-t.com
September 01, 2013 12:00 AM


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With one month to go before preliminary casino applications are due in Southeastern Massachusetts, it's looking more and more like Region C will be the land of the losers.
 
A scheduling delay caused by the now-closed window of exclusivity given to the Mashpee Wampanoag has put the southeast months behind the state's two other casino regions, giving the gambling behemoths who are spurned by other communities or the gaming commission a second shot at a license here.
 
Even before their plans in Boston, Everett, Millbury, Springfield, West Springfield and Palmer are fully considered, some of the nation's largest casino operators already are hedging their bets and testing the waters in Southeastern Massachusetts. There also will be losers in the race for a slots parlor license, meaning the competition here may be fierce, but it almost certainly will be among known commodities.
 
Right now, nine of some of the biggest names in the business — Caesar's, Wynn, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, MGM, Hard Rock, Penn National Gaming, Cordish Cos., and Rush Street Gaming — are seeking either the slots parlor license or the Western Massachusetts and Greater Boston casino licenses. Any or all of the six losers eventually could set their sights on Southeastern Massachusetts.
 
Those second-chance opportunities could be the only game in town, according to observers and landowners who have been actively searching for gaming partners.
 
A Bridgewater landowner and two different groups hoping to build waterfront casinos in New Bedford remain the only known developers seeking the Region C license.
 
Asked if he knew of any other activity, Clyde Barrow, director of the UMass Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis, which has studied the New England gaming scene for more than a decade, answered, "Around here? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
 
"On the casino front, I think nothing is going to break until the first licenses are issued and there are some losers floating around," Barrow said.
 
That's just the way the Gaming Commission designed it.
 
While it didn't necessarily foresee a dearth of new applicants for the Region C license, the Gaming Commission specifically set its schedule to allow losers of licenses in other regions to be major players here.
 
Any gaming firms that pass the commission's first litmus test and are deemed suitable to operate a casino are not limited by the Sept. 30 initial application deadline and may reapply in Region C without having to pay an additional $400,000 nonrefundable fee that is required of new applicants.
 
"That really enhances the competitive situation tremendously," chairman Stephen Crosby said as the commission deliberated at its May 16 meeting. "And I think that's a policy decision we absolutely should make."
 
The anticipated land shopping already has played out just in the jockeying for licenses in the other two regions and for a slots parlor.
 
Spurned by Springfield officials who chose a competing bid from MGM, Penn National Gaming moved on to seek a slots-only license in Tewksbury. Rejected again when town meeting voters refused to grant a zoning change needed for the gaming facility, Penn National now is reported to be in the market to acquire Plainridge Racecourse. The harness track has a prime location right off Interstate 495 in Plainville, but the commission ruled its current owners were unsuitable as gaming operators.

 

And kg urban?

Stakeholders expect a lot more of that to happen after the Gaming Commission issues the slots license in December and the Western Massachusetts and Greater Boston casino licenses in April 2014.
 
Claremont Companies of Bridgewater owns 170 acres at the junction of Interstate 495 and Route 24, which it has been actively pitching to potential gaming partners, including some that have applied in other regions.
 
"We're planning to pursue a license in Southeastern Massachusetts," said company president Elias Patoucheas, although he declined to predict whether he would partner with a new casino operator or one of those rejected in another region.
 
"Things continue to change in terms of the landscape," Patoucheas said. "We'll continue to monitor what's happening in other regions. We are continuing to speak with all the major casino operators."
 
Same for South Coast Casino Corp., a consortium of five property owners seeking a casino on the New Bedford Harbor in the Hicks-Logan neighborhood, just off Interstate 195.
 
"Most of the people who have already paid their $400,000 have skin in another game for now, but that doesn't mean that they won't be available once they're eliminated," said attorney Paul Hamel, who represents the group.
KG Urban Enterprises, which has been pursuing plans for a downtown waterfront casino at the site of an abandoned power plant for years, provided only terse statements when asked to comment on the status of its pursuit. Company comments usually are provided by the glib Andrew Stern, principal and managing director, but this time came from the more succinct Barry Gosin, managing member of the New York-based developer.
 
"We plan on filing our application by Sept. 30," Gosin said in a statement responding to questions, but he did not specifically address the status of KG's efforts to secure a gaming partner or whether KG would be interested in partnering with a gaming company that might lose a slot parlor license or a casino license in another region.
 
"We have retained Macquarie Capital as our advisor and they are talking to prospective partners," Gosin said. "We are taking advice from Macquarie on who and who not to talk with."
 
If either of the prospective New Bedford developers are to be successful, they'll have to come to a meeting of the minds with Mayor Jon Mitchell, and that could be a tough sell. The man who would be responsible for negotiating a host community agreement for a casino in the city has described himself as "skeptical" and needing to be convinced of the benefits of a downtown casino.
 
"We continue to work with the mayor," Hamel said, "trying to get him to agree with a scenario where we could have a casino in New Bedford. I think we've established a working relationship that's a little bit better than when we first went in."
 
Gosin was not forthcoming on the subject, saying: "We have had some preliminary conversations with the mayor and will not, at this time, provide public comment on those discussions."
 
Mitchell said he has met with both groups but has not yet begun negotiating a host community agreement. "I still believe the burden lies with the developer to establish why a casino would further New Bedford's interests."
 
And he said he hasn't been swayed by millions of dollars that casino developers are agreeing to provide to host communities. "The amount of money developers might pay to municipalities is only one of the factors to be considered," he said, including "the net effect on a community's image, the net effect on economic activity and the suitability of the location."

 

Tribal long shot

Another possibility for the Southeastern Massachusetts is that the Mashpee Wampanoag, who have plans for a sovereign resort casino in East Taunton, instead decide to seek the commercial license.
 
But it's a long shot, with the tribe preferring to take its chances on getting its land into trust and completing a compact with the state that would allow it to operate a casino under authority of the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
 
Asked if the tribe might reverse course and seek the commercial license, tribal chairman Cedric Cromwell said:
 
"The simple answer is no. Under federal law, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has the sovereign right to open a destination resort casino on tribal lands within a state that has authorized gaming.
 
"We're excited about the progress we're making on our proposed Taunton casino, and with our land in trust application," he said in a statement last week.
 
 

 

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