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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Flanagan Flim-Flammed Again!





Foxwoods brings bid for casino to New Bedford
 
By Steve DeCosta
sdecosta@s-t.com
May 28, 2014 5:56 PM

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Foxwoods is in serious negotiations with New Bedford to build one of the state's three licensed casinos on the site of the Whaling City Golf Course, creating up to 2,000 jobs, according to sources.
Foxwoods Casino Resort and the investment group Crossroads Massachusetts LLC have decided that sites in Fall River, including one along the waterfront, are unsuitable, sources said.
 
“We don't have any knowledge of that,” Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan said when contacted Wednesday. “I've been working diligently with Foxwoods over the last several weeks and they have not communicated any of that information to me. We've heard nothing contrary.”
 
Sources said Foxwoods considered several other sites in New Bedford, including waterfront industrial property in the Hicks-Logan section of the city, but preferred the golf course on Hathaway Road, which was the site of a casino proposed by the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) about 20 years ago.
 
Another potential casino site, an abandoned NStar plant, is under the control of KG Urban Enterprises, which has proposed a cleanup of the waterfront property and the construction of a $500 million casino complex. KG Urban, however, has been unable to secure a partner to operate a casino, the sources said.
 
Asked about the reports, the New Bedford mayor's office referred to a statement issued by Jon Mitchell on April 4. “The city has been in discussions with casino project proponents, and the mayor's door remains open to any qualified casino developer or operator interested in exploring a gaming proposal that is the right fit for New Bedford,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Treadup Pio, said in a statement.
 
Scott Butera, Foxwoods' chief executive, did not respond to two requests for comment.
 
The golf course is owned by the city and could not be conveyed directly to Foxwoods and only could be sold via a public bidding process, sources said. There is no guarantee that Foxwoods would win the bidding, but sources said they don't believe any other potential buyer is likely to bid or already has tried to do what Foxwoods wants to do.
 
Market value for the course is about around $15 million, sources said. City Council approval would be needed to sell the property.

The golf course most likely would remain available to New Bedford residents who want to play there, sources said.

Foxwoods, whose proposal to build a casino in Milford was overwhelmingly rejected by that town's voters, 6,361 to 3,480, in November, has been seeking alternative locations since.

While sources would not state for publication any financial details of the proposed deal with New Bedford, Foxwoods had entered into a host community agreement that would have provided Milford nearly $33.2 million to be paid during the construction period through the fourth anniversary after opening.

In addition, Foxwoods would have made projected annual payments of $31 million, plus an additional $4 million if the casino's total annual gross gaming revenues reach $1 billion.

However, the Milford casino would have been located in the more lucrative Greater Boston market, so any potential payments to New Bedford would probably be less, sources said.

After the Milford vote failed, Foxwoods announced plans in March to build a $750 million resort casino at the site of the New Harbour Mall in Fall River. Fall River said it expected to reveal details of a host community agreement within days. Those days stretched into weeks, and, on May 19, Mayor Flanagan said Foxwoods instead was hoping to find 120 acres of waterfront property to expand the project.

On Wednesday, Flanagan said negotiations with Foxwoods are continuing. Asked why those talks have yet to produce an agreement, Flanagan said: “The Gaming Commission extended the deadline to Sept. 23 and we are using the additional time to fine tune the project to maximize its potential.”

Sources said that in addition to Fall River, Foxwoods executives also had reviewed options in Bridgewater, but in recent weeks had focused their efforts on New Bedford, which has twice voted in favor of hosting a casino and which is farther from the Greater Boston market.

After the land in New Bedford is secured, the next step in the licensing process would be the negotiation of a host community agreement and the scheduling of a referendum vote.

With the preliminary deadline for applications long since passed, the Southeastern Massachusetts license can only be issued to KG Urban Enterprises or an applicant — such as Foxwoods — that has been rejected for the slots parlor license or a casino license in another region. Tentatively, the Gaming Commission has set a Sept. 23 application deadline for the region, with the license being awarded no sooner than February 2015.

Should both Foxwoods and KG Urban bring forth competing proposals for casinos in New Bedford, it would be up to the community — most notably the mayor — to work out the best deal. That's what happened in Springfield, where Mayor Domenic Sarno chose an $800 million plan from MGM Resorts International, eliminating a rival proposal from Penn National Gaming.

The licensing of a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts — also known as Region C — is months behind the process for the Western Massachusetts and Greater Boston casinos, delayed by language in the enabling legislation giving a head start to the Mashpee Wampanoag. So far, the tribe has failed to receive the necessary federal approvals.

In the future, if the tribe is able to have its land taken into trust by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and there is a commercial casino licensed for the region, the Mashpee would be allowed to operate a sovereign casino that would make no payments to the state.
 
 
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140528/NEWS/140529858


Flanagan: Foxwoods is 'not looking elsewhere' despite reports that company is negotiating with New Bedford

  • According to sources in Standard-Times report, casino company has expressed interest in Whaling City Golf Course and says Fall River sites are unsuitable


    • Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan discusses plans for a partnership with Foxwoods to build a new casino in Fall River, while Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera stands behind him, on Feb. 24.
    HN File Photo | Dave SouzaFall River Mayor Will Flanagan discusses plans for a partnership with Foxwoods to build a new casino in Fall River, while Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera stands behind him, on Feb. 24.


    »  RELATED CONTENT


  • Michael Holtzman
    Herald News Staff Reporter
    Posted May. 28, 2014 @ 5:51 pm
    Updated at 6:52 PM

    FALL RIVER — Reports that Foxwoods Resort Casino has dramatically shifted priority to build a destination resort casino from Fall River to New Bedford are without merit, Mayor Will Flanagan said Wednesday night.
    “They’re not looking elsewhere,” Flanagan told The Herald News minutes after he said Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera called him back in response to those reports.
    “He has reassured me that Foxwoods has not abandoned the city of Fall River,” Flanagan said. “They’re committed to the city of Fall River and making this project work.”
    But according to a story by The Standard-Times of New Bedford, Foxwoods and its investors, Crossroads Massachusetts LLC, told unidentified sources that sites in Fall River, including a recently discussed waterfront location, were not suitable.
    (Click here for the complete Standard-Times story.)
    The story identified the Whaling City Golf Course as a site being negotiated for what Foxwoods has identified as a casino resort that would create 2,000 jobs.
    Flanagan said that, for months, Butera has said “on numerous occasions that Fall River will be the place in Massachusetts where they will build this project.”
    Three licensed casinos can be built in the state.
    Flanagan said he’s been in negotiations with Foxwoods officials since November and that two to three weeks ago, they “were able to identify a waterfront location” in Fall River. He declined to be more specific.
    The envisioned project Foxwoods and city officials have publicized would include a 140,000-square-foot gambling floor, about 10 restaurants, a hotel, shopping mall, entertainment arena, convention center and spa.
    Flanagan and Kenneth Fiola Jr., executive vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, both said they wanted to see what published information existed on the information about Foxwoods possibly preferring New Bedford.
    When asked about the New Bedford source calling the Fall River site unsuitable, Flanagan said he did not believe the party had close knowledge of his negotiations with Foxwoods.
    “I would deem this source, at this point, to be uncredible,” Flanagan said.
    Fiola, who’s worked for three years with Flanagan attempting to lure various entities to build a casino in Fall River, said he was particularly interested in the source of the new information.
    Fiola acknowledged “there’s a lot of moving parts” with decisions by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission issuing the licenses, possibilities of ballot votes and questions about reimbursing companies if a measure is repealed.
     
    • »  RELATED CONTENT
  • Michael Holtzman
    Herald News Staff Reporter
    Posted May. 28, 2014 @ 5:51 pm
    Updated at 6:52 PM

    FALL RIVER — Reports that Foxwoods Resort Casino has dramatically shifted priority to build a destination resort casino from Fall River to New Bedford are without merit, Mayor Will Flanagan said Wednesday night.
    “They’re not looking elsewhere,” Flanagan told The Herald News minutes after he said Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera called him back in response to those reports.
    “He has reassured me that Foxwoods has not abandoned the city of Fall River,” Flanagan said. “They’re committed to the city of Fall River and making this project work.”
    But according to a story by The Standard-Times of New Bedford, Foxwoods and its investors, Crossroads Massachusetts LLC, told unidentified sources that sites in Fall River, including a recently discussed waterfront location, were not suitable.
    (Click here for the complete Standard-Times story.)
    The story identified the Whaling City Golf Course as a site being negotiated for what Foxwoods has identified as a casino resort that would create 2,000 jobs.
    Flanagan said that, for months, Butera has said “on numerous occasions that Fall River will be the place in Massachusetts where they will build this project.”
    Three licensed casinos can be built in the state.
    Flanagan said he’s been in negotiations with Foxwoods officials since November and that two to three weeks ago, they “were able to identify a waterfront location” in Fall River. He declined to be more specific.
    The envisioned project Foxwoods and city officials have publicized would include a 140,000-square-foot gambling floor, about 10 restaurants, a hotel, shopping mall, entertainment arena, convention center and spa.
    Flanagan and Kenneth Fiola Jr., executive vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, both said they wanted to see what published information existed on the information about Foxwoods possibly preferring New Bedford.
    When asked about the New Bedford source calling the Fall River site unsuitable, Flanagan said he did not believe the party had close knowledge of his negotiations with Foxwoods.
    “I would deem this source, at this point, to be uncredible,” Flanagan said.
    Fiola, who’s worked for three years with Flanagan attempting to lure various entities to build a casino in Fall River, said he was particularly interested in the source of the new information.
    Fiola acknowledged “there’s a lot of moving parts” with decisions by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission issuing the licenses, possibilities of ballot votes and questions about reimbursing companies if a measure is repealed.
     
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