Yattata Yattata.....Foxwoods can't make it anywhere else.....
declining revenues....gambling market saturation...overstated promises.....
and Fall River officials fall for it? [no pun intended]
Selling the city down the river
Foxwoods seeks waterfront property
FALL RIVER — Foxwoods Casino Resort and the investment group Crossroads Massachusetts LLC are upping the ante and betting on finding 120-acres of waterfront property to expand their proposed destination resort project by more than three times its present size, according to Mayor Will Flanagan.
“Our goal is we want to develop a project we can be proud of and I’m confident we can build the biggest (casino) in New England and one of the top three in the world,” Flanagan said. “We want a legacy project for Foxwoods and the city.”
Kenneth Fiola Jr., vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, which has been brokering a deal with the casino conglomerate, declined to comment.
Foxwoods seeks waterfront property
Jo C. Goode
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted May. 19, 2014
FALL RIVER — Foxwoods Casino Resort and the investment group Crossroads Massachusetts LLC are upping the ante and betting on finding 120-acres of waterfront property to expand their proposed destination resort project by more than three times its present size, according to Mayor Will Flanagan.
“Our goal is we want to develop a project we can be proud of and I’m confident we can build the biggest (casino) in New England and one of the top three in the world,” Flanagan said. “We want a legacy project for Foxwoods and the city.”
On Friday, Foxwood’s CEO Scott Butera did not return a request for an interview to confirm the changes and Kenneth Fiola Jr., vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, which has been brokering a deal with the casino conglomerate, declined to comment.
A telephone call to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission requesting an interview with officials was also not returned.
If Foxwoods succeeds in purchasing waterfront property and is able to win the commercial gaming license from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for Region C, it’s a far cry from the original plan to build a casino in the South End at the 30-acre New Harbour Mall site.
Casino developers said they would invest $750 million in that project, which would include a 140,000-square-foot gambling floor, approximately 10 restaurants, a hotel, a “name-brand” shopping mall, an entertainment arena, a convention center and a spa.
Foxwoods management claimed the venue would bring 2,000 new jobs to the city.
Flanagan said the city and Foxwoods are taking advantage of an extended deadline of Sept. 23 to submit an application for the license to work on a better project and host community agreement.
The deadline was originally set for July 23, but the city of New Bedford and casino developer KG Urban Enterprises, which is looking to build a gaming facility, requested and received the 60-day extension from the gaming commission.
Flanagan said he is unfazed by recent reports that Foxwoods could be facing some financial difficulties.
It was reported last week that Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners, which included 13 local investors and the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, which operates the Foxwoods Casino Resort in Connecticut, filed for bankruptcy court protection from its creditors.
The partnership behind the failed Foxwoods Casino project in South Philadelphia recently paid an outstanding $8 million tax bill to the city after it sold a piece of land.
Flanagan said the financial partners involved with Foxwoods for the Fall River project are a different group.
It is unclear if the cuts will mean staff layoffs.
If Foxwoods is able to reach a land purchase deal on the waterfront, a host community agreement will have to be reached and sent to a referendum for approval by voters before the Sept. 23 deadline.
Last week, Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut announced plans to cut hours of operation on one of its gaming venues.
http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20140519/News/305209989/?Start=2
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment