New Bedford casino developer withdraws bid

By Sean P. Murphy and Jim O’Sullivan GLOBE STAFF  JULY 22, 2015

The proposal to build a $650 million casino on the New Bedford waterfront is dead, falling victim to a lack of financing amid concerns about the viability of large gaming resort in Southeastern Massachusetts.

The abrupt withdrawal of KG Urban, the New York-based developer that had proposed a glass-walled complex with panoramic views of the historic harbor, is the latest setback in the state’s long-term strategy to lure gamblers back from casinos in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

In its letter to the state Gaming Commission, KG Urban said investors were not convinced that the venture would work in an increasingly competitive environment.

“As you can well imagine, we deeply regret reaching this conclusion,” KG Urban, which spent more than $10 million in an eight-year quest for the casino, wrote in a four-paragraph letter to the commission dated Wednesday.

Among its concerns, the company cited a plan being developed by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to open a casino in Taunton, within 25 miles of the site in New Bedford. A state-licensed New Bedford casino would be at a huge disadvantage, because as a federally recognized tribe, the Mashpee would pay no taxes, while the New Bedford facility would face a 25 percent tax.

KG Urban’s abrupt withdrawal comes at a time of growing uncertainty over plans for the two other resort casinos authorized under the state’s 2011 casino law. Under current forecasts, those casinos, originally expected to open in 2016, won’t go on line until at least 2018, meaning the state already faces about two years of delay in realizing forecasts of thousands of new jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue.

The state officially entered the casino era last month with the opening of Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, but that facility is much smaller than the resort casinos, which are to include hotels, planned for Springfield and Everett.

MGM Resorts, which is developing the casino in Springfield, recently announced a one-year delay caused by nearby highway construction, while Wynn Resorts’ plans for a casino in Everett are hung up in court, facing an aggressive legal challenge from Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh.

Even before KG Urban’s withdrawal, some Gaming Commission members had expressed skepticism over a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts because of the well-established competition in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

“It’s the most challenging region because it is less populated and has less market potential,” Commissioner Enrique Zuniga said during a commission meeting in March.

Now the only bidder for a Southeastern Massachusetts casino is a partnership of Rush Street Gaming, which operates four casinos in the Midwest, and George Carney, the longtime owner of Raynham Park race track. The group wants to build a $650 million casino on the site of the Brockton Fairgrounds, which Carney owns.

Commission chairman Stephen P. Crosby has often stated his intention to award the license only after competition between at least two bidders.

A spokeswoman for the commission declined to comment on Wednesday, but said members will discuss KG Urban’s decision at a meeting already scheduled for Thursday.

The withdrawal came as a bitter blow to New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, who had hoped a casino would spur economic development in a city long plagued by high unemployment. In March, Mitchell delivered an impassioned appeal to the commission, pledging full support for a casino to be located on a former power plant site on Cannon Street.

“KG Urban’s decision to abandon the Cannon Street project is an extreme disappointment and a great shock,” Mitchell said in a statement Wednesday.

Mitchell said he and city residents had been led to believe by the developers that financing had been secured. In a June 23 referendum, New Bedford voters approved hosting the casino by a whopping 73 percent to 27 percent margin.

“City leadership and the people of New Bedford relied on these assurances in casting their enthusiastic support for the project,” Mitchell said. “We have been united as a community and have done everything possible to support” the KG casino proposal, “so city residents and its leadership are all understandably upset.”

When — and whether — the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe will get approval from the US Bureau of Indian Affairs for a casino is a matter of intense speculation. The tribe’s application is subject to a complex body of federal law.

“We’ve always seen our project as an economic boon for Southeastern Massachusetts,” Cedric Cromwell, the Tribal Council chairman, said in a statement after learning of KG Urban’s withdrawal. “As our plans in Taunton move ahead, the economic benefits will become more apparent to everyone in the region, including the people of New Bedford.”

Mass Gaming & Entertainment, the developers proposing a Brockton casino, also released a statement pledging to remain in the hunt for a license.

“Our project will provide the Commonwealth with over $100 million a year in tax revenue once a resort casino is built in Brockton as well as $10 [million] to $12 million” to the city annually, the group said.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/07/22/new-bedford-casino-developer-withdraws-proposal-letter-says/DqaLeTmImEHLfhXigdQBgJ/story.html

Don't bet the farm on Somerset casino

A community opposition group is already forming in Somerset, another dumb location for a Slot Barn!

There are 159 posts here. [at the bottom, click on
"older posts" to see more]
http://middlebororemembers.blogspot.com/search/label/Milford

Please remember: MILFORD DEFEATED THESE CLOWNS!
Milford created a template!

Mike Moran: Don't bet the farm on Somerset casino

OK, I admit it. I may have a gambling problem.

No, it's not what you think. I'm not powerless over the lure of slot machines, video poker or even Keno. You won't find me standing ahead of you at a convenience store selecting scratch tickets at sloth-like speed while you wait patiently to pay for your bread and milk. Nope, I'm not that guy.

Herald News Photo | Jack FoleyThe corner of Brayton Point Road and Wilbur Avenue from the southwest corner of the town Farm property in Somerset. The land is a mix of woods and fields. Somerset on the Move LLC is proposing to build a resort casino on the property.




By Mike Moran
Opinion Columnist Posted Feb. 11, 2015 at 4:25 PM
Updated Feb 12, 2015 at 11:09 AM

OK, I admit it. I may have a gambling problem.

No, it’s not what you think. I’m not powerless over the lure of slot machines, video poker or even Keno. You won’t find me standing ahead of you at a convenience store selecting scratch tickets at sloth-like speed while you wait patiently to pay for your bread and milk. Nope, I’m not that guy.

And table games, like blackjack and roulette, do nothing for me. In fact, I once watched silently for an hour as real gamblers played at a craps table. I walked away knowing nothing more than I did when I arrived.

I admit that I’ll lay down a couple of bucks to play Powerball when the jackpot climbs to gigantic levels. Do I expect to win? I understand that the odds are better that I will be struck by lightning while riding a unicycle up President Avenue.

So what is the nature of my gambling problem? Actually, it’s more like a casino problem. You see, like the hallucinations that appear before the eyes of an exhausted, parched desert traveler, I see casinos everywhere. Until recently, they were permanently imprinted on my mind, as politician after politician promised me that a casino in the SouthCoast would someday exist.

There was the riverboat casino the folks from Circus Circus told us would chug up and down the Taunton River. Then there was the land-based casino at Fall River’s former municipal airport. We all recall the New Bedford casino that former Gov. Bill Weld and former Mayor Rosemary Tierney said was a sure thing in 1993. It might be at the site of the municipal golf course, we were told. Then again, it might be on the waterfront.

Rem-ember the one Mayor Will Flanagan tried to create in Fall River’s reservation-biopark area? How about the casino at the site of Fall River’s New Harbour Mall? That was a great one, right? The CEO of Foxwoods even showed up at Government Center to tell us how swell it would be, until he changed his mind and started courting New Bedford. It was then that talk about a Fall River waterfront casino, possible at the failed Hess LNG site, commenced — another false alarm. We also have the Mashpee Wampanoag casino proposal in Taunton, strategically placed near the well-travelled Route 140-Route 24 interchange. And Brockton wants to come up to the plate and take a swing.

All these casinos, ready to sprout from the ground like weeds, right?

Wrong.

Now we’ve got the latest entry in the contest to create the biggest and best imaginary casino. This one, we’re told, will be nestled in a spacious tract of land off Route 103 in Somerset.

Let me ask an impolite question. Does anyone really, truly believe that a casino will be constructed on Wilbur Avenue? Have you ever travelled over the Braga Bridge into Somerset at 5 p.m. on a weekday and taken the ramp to Route 103 East? Did the sluggish crawl of the traffic make you want to get out of your car and walk to your destination? Now imagine what that trip will be like when a casino opens a quarter mile down that same road.

Before you get too concerned though, consider a few things. Somerset residents would have to vote at least three times before the first shovel enters the ground. According to Don Setters, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, we could expect a town meeting vote on a proposed zoning change. Then there would be a vote to sell or lease the property for use as a casino. Finally, a vote on a host community agreement would take place.

Assuming all that receives voter approval, and I doubt it will, there would then be a proposal to the state Gaming Commission for a license, followed by an endless string of hearings, meetings, environmental permitting, and other bureaucratic steps.

I’m not anti-casino and never have been. But we’ve been told too many times that “the casino” was coming, and it simply hasn’t happened. And while I understand the motivation of some within Somerset’s corridors of power to consider any idea that will help make up the lost revenue from the town’s two power plants, casino talk is always a risky proposition.

A small grassroots opposition group has started to form in town, but I don’t think too many Somerset residents take the casino plan seriously — not yet. Who knows, some residents may even like the idea.

But you can bet on this: Political leaders who unfairly raise expectations that a casino is coming may be making the biggest gamble of all — one that could have a profound effect on their own political future.

http://www.tauntongazette.com/article/20150211/OPINION/150218998#150218998/?Start=1&_suid=1423921553358026376466980122576

Fall River Visibility! YES ON 3!

We will be holding signs (which say Vote YES on question 3) in front of the Government Center in Fall River, meeting at the northwest corner of the building near Main Street so that we will be visible to passing motorists.

 

We will gather there at 5 p.m. on Wed., Oct. 8th.

 

As people arrive for the 6 p.m. Board of Elections meeting in the Government Center we will probably move closer to where they will enter.

 

 

This will be our 4th visibility in Fall River, and we hope that many of you can join us even if your work schedule means that you will be a bit late. We will finish about 6:15.

 

YES on Question 3! VISIBILITY Sept. 29th, Sept. 30th!

Get the FACTS!

JOIN your friends and neighbors, protect your community!



REPEAL THE CASINO DEAL!

 We will hold our first sign-holding asking people to vote YES on Question 3, tomorrow (Monday) at 4 p.m. until about 5:30 p.m. at the corner of Ellsbree Street and President Ave.

I will have signs available , or if you wish you can make your own.

Please come if you are able, even if you are somewhat late, and feel free to spread the word and invite anyone who agrees with us to be present.

    Our second event will be the next day, on Tuesday, Sept. 30th.

I very much hope to see you there tomorrow so we can all make future plans for dates and locations.

Gaming panel issues new casino deadlines

The only sensible solution!

Gaming panel issues new casino deadlines

By George Brennan

gbrennan@capecodonline.com

June 27, 2014

 

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has extended the deadline to issue a commercial casino license in Southeastern Massachusetts until the end of March and will accept bids from new casino companies until Dec. 1.

 

During their meeting Thursday, commissioners never mentioned the effort to repeal the casino law, which is now on the Nov. 4 ballot, but the new deadlines give potential applicants time to see how that plays out. Earlier this week, the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled that voters should have an opportunity to vote on the repeal question.

 

The lone applicant in the region, KG Urban Enterprises, has not provided information about investors for a complete background check and was unlikely to meet the current Sept. 23 deadline or a July 12 deadline to have its suitability considered, Karen Wells, director of the commission's investigation and enforcement division, said.

 

With the new deadlines, commissioners are requiring KG Urban and any new applicants to provide "substantially complete" information for background checks by Dec. 1.

 

The deadline extension also could allow the loser in the Boston market — either Wynn Resorts or Mohegan Sun — to attempt to cut a deal in Southeastern Massachusetts, commissioners said.

 

KG Urban officials declined to comment and instead referred to the company's letter to the commission in anticipation of Thursday's vote.

 

"Allowing new applicants to late file a (phase 1) application would be unfairly prejudicial to existing applicants," Barry Gosin, one of the principals of KG Urban, wrote.

 

In his letter, Gosin supported an extension of the deadline, but for only 90 days and not the six months approved by the commission.

 

The commission also voted to allow applicants to include capitalized interest in the calculation of their minimum $500 million capital investments, noting the competitive nature of the region with a slot parlor slated for Plainville and two casinos in nearby Rhode Island. Commissioners stopped short of a proposal to include the purchase of land as part of the overall capital investment.

 

The decision to, in effect, lower the capital investment for a casino in the region had some commissioners wondering aloud if a casino can make it in Southeastern Massachusetts.

 

"If the market can't sustain a casino, then, we weren't told we had to do a casino here. It said we could do up to three," Chairman Stephen Crosby said. "Then the tribe comes along someday and, maybe, it pays us 17 percent rather than nothing."

 

Southeastern Massachusetts, known as Region C in the legislation that established gaming in the Bay State, is already behind two other regions of the state in the licensing process, in part, because of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's efforts to build a $500 million Indian casino in Taunton.

 

"The tribe remains focused on Project First Light," Paula Gates, a spokesman for the Mashpee Wampanoag, said in response to the commission vote.

 

The tribe is awaiting word on its application to have land in Mashpee and Taunton taken into trust.

 

The uncertainty has made it difficult for KG Urban to find financial backers and for a landowner in Bridgewater to attract a casino developer.

 

If a commercial casino is licensed in the region and the tribe gets federal permission to build a casino, the commercial venue would be at a competitive disadvantage. Commercial casinos are required to pay the state 25 percent of gross gambling revenue to the state.

 

Under a compact reached between the Mashpee Wampanoag and the state, the tribe would pay 17 percent of its gross gambling revenue to the state if it has the only casino in the region. If there is competition, the tribe pays zero.

 

The deadline extension buys the tribe time to get through the tangle of federal hurdles.

 

The commission received nearly a dozen comments from stakeholders in the region, the majority of them in favor of extending the deadline.

 

The Mashpee Wampanoag did not submit comments, but Cezar Froelich, an attorney for the city of Taunton, urged the commission not to extend the deadline or to open the region to potential bidders.

 

The market has shown that commercial casino companies are reluctant to enter the region with the tribe still a player.

 

"The winds are squarely behind the tribe's efforts to have its land-in-trust efforts approved," Froelich wrote. "There is nothing that has come before the commission other than the opinion of several 'experts' that could reasonably lead the commission to conclude the tribe will not have its application approved by the department."

 

City officials in New Bedford and Fall River supported deadline extensions, as did officials and the landowner in Bridgewater where there is no concrete proposal on the table. Both Fall River and Bridgewater officials suggested a tweak to the total investment required of potential developments, as well as a lowering of the application fees. New Bedford wanted the deadline to be after Nov. 14 so it could hold a citywide vote on Election Day, Nov. 4.

 

Follow George Brennan on Twitter: @gpb227.

 

 

 

 

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140627/NEWS/406270335/-1/NEWSLETTER100

 

 

Fall River: No $$$ for Foxwoods!

Mayor: Fall River courting new casino plan amid concerns over Foxwoods

• »  RELATED CONTENT
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• Jo C. Goode
  Herald News Staff Reporter 
  Posted Jun. 17, 2014 @ 12:11 am
  Updated Jun 17, 2014 at 12:14 AM 
  
  

  FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan’s administration is open to new suitors who want to build a resort-style casino after Foxwoods, the Connecticut-based gaming company, has yet to work out a deal with the city and will not meet a September deadline to file with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for a license in the southeast.

  Flanagan, once a vocal cheerleader for Foxwoods’ proposed $750 million gaming and entertainment facility in Fall River, said he welcomed the announcement last week by the gaming commission that it’s considering extending a deadline date of Sept. 23 for applications for the Region C commercial gaming license.

  Next week the gaming commission will consider an extension that could move the deadline to March 2015. Originally, the deadline was set for July 23.

  Both Flanagan and representatives from Foxwoods protested the gaming commission’s first deadline extension, claiming the gambling giant would be able to meet the initial deadline.

  Flanagan reversed that position.

  “I would support the gaming commission extending the timeline to next year and reopen an appropriate procedure to attract new investors,” said Flanagan. “Right now, there are currently only a few able to apply in Region C and (Foxwoods) is having some type of internal conflict and are unable to move forward.”

  Fall River Office of Economic Development Vice President Kenneth Fiola, who has been working with Foxwoods since it announced in January its interest in developing in the city, said its financial partners, the investment group Crossroads Massachusetts LLC, has pulled financing from the proposed project.

  “Foxwoods is in the process of changing development partners,” Fiola said. “Crossroads was the entity that filed and funded the $400,000 for the initial gaming application.”

  Several telephone calls to a Foxwoods’ spokesman, Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera and David Nunes, spokesperson for Crossroads, were not returned.

  This may be Foxwoods’ second failed attempt to gain one of the state’s three gaming licenses. In November, Milford voters rejected by referendum a $1 billion proposal from Foxwoods for the eastern region license, which also covers metropolitan Boston and is considered the most lucrative area for gaming.

  Flanagan had originally signed an exclusivity agreement with Foxwoods, Fiola said, but now that they will not be filing an application with the gaming commission, that pact was terminated.

  Other casino companies have expressed interest in developing in the city and discussions with different gaming interests have proceeded, Fiola said.

  Flanagan said he would still be willing to work with Foxwoods.

  “But you have to be realistic and attract the very best project and do what is in the best interest of the city,” Flanagan said.

  It was a little more than a week ago that Foxwoods’ spokeswoman Dale Wolbrink denied media reports that the company had lost interest in Fall River but would not confirm discussions with leaders in New Bedford to develop a project in that city.

  “We have not, in any way, shape or form, said that Fall River is unsuitable,” Wolbrink told the Associated Press.

  Last month, Flanagan announced that Foxwoods was abandoning the 30-acre site at the Harbour Mall and looking for 120-acres of waterfront property that would triple the project’s scope.

  The city had submitted a draft of a host community agreement to Foxwoods as part of the process to meet the July 23 deadline and then the September deadline, Fiola said, but casino representatives hesitated to make comments about the proposed agreement.

  The extension by the gaming commission and the possibility that a referendum to repeal the casino law could be on the ballot in November may have played a role in Foxwoods’ inability to file for a gaming application, Fiola said.

  “Obviously if its appealed there will be a chilly climate in Region C for Foxwoods and other companies to meet a deadline,” Fiola said.

  http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20140617/NEWS/140616836/1994/NEWS
  

  
  
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Massachusetts: Genuflecting!

Casino bid deadline might be moved again

By George Brennan

gbrennan@capecodonline.com

June 13, 2014

Just two months after they extended the deadline for casino applicants in Southeastern Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is considering opening the region to new bidders and extending the deadline again, possibly until mid-March.

At a meeting Thursday, the commission put off making a decision for two weeks on the area known as Region C, to solicit public comment and guidance from the agency's legal advisers.

Related Links

• Click here for more casino coverage

The deadline for Phase 2 applications in Region C was originally July 23, which would have required referendum votes by mid-May in cities where the casinos are proposed. In April, the deadline was extended to Sept. 23. That meant commercial applicants currently seeking the Region C license — KG Urban Enterprises and Foxwoods — would need a host community agreement in place by July 14 and then would have until the September date to file the completed Phase 2 application.

Now the Gaming Commission is considering pushing that September deadline forward, possibly another six months, in an attempt to keep potential investors interested in Southeastern Massachusetts.

KG Urban, which is proposing a New Bedford waterfront casino and was at one time the lone bidder in the region, was quick to reject the idea of opening up the application process to new companies.

"KG Urban strongly opposes opening the Southeast Region C to applicants that made no commitment to the region, or the commonwealth, prior to commission's deadline last September. We will submit detailed comments to the Gaming Commission," said Andy Paven, a spokesman for the company seeking a New Bedford waterfront casino.

Foxwoods, which wants to build in Fall River, did not return a call seeking comment.

The commission is poised to officially award the state's first full-fledged casino license today to MGM Resorts for an $800 million project in Springfield. MGM will be allowed to delay paying the $85 million license fee because of the effort underway to repeal the state's casino law through a possible referendum on the November ballot.

Extending the Region C deadline to March would allow the loser in the Greater Boston license sweepstakes — Wynn Resorts or Mohegan Sun — to enter the Southeastern Massachusetts market, commission 

Chairman Stephen Crosby said.

But Crosby said he doesn't think extending the deadline will make much difference in attracting Region C bidders.

"I don't think that's what the problem here is," he said.

The problems are well-documented. The looming presence of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, which has proposed a $500 million Indian casino in Taunton, is one of them.

Though the tribe does not yet have federal approval and its application remains in legal limbo with the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, it does have a compact with the state to make payments in lieu of taxes at a rate of 17 percent of gross gambling revenue, so long as there is no direct competition from a commercial casino in the region. If there is a state-licensed competitor, the tribe's payments would drop to zero and the commercial company would be at a competitive disadvantage.

Paula Gates, a spokeswoman for the tribe, said the Mashpee land application remains under review by the bureau.

"The tribe is encouraged at the pace things are moving along," Gates said.

Even without the possible tribal casino, Region C is a highly competitive market. The state's lone slot parlor would be just over the border into Region B in Plainville, there are two gambling facilities in nearby Rhode Island, and there are two Indian casinos in Connecticut.

For most of the year, KG Urban was the lone bidder in Region C. Once Foxwoods lost a referendum vote to build a casino in Milford, the Connecticut casino operator turned its attention to Fall River and New Bedford with the blessing of the Gaming Commission.

Kenneth Fiola, executive vice president of Fall River's Office of Economic Development, said his city would welcome a deadline extension, in part, because the state's Supreme Judicial Court has not yet decided whether a referendum question to repeal the casino law can go on the November ballot.

"The real 800-pound gorilla in the room is the uncertainty of what's going to happen with SJC," Fiola said referring to the potential ballot question.

Companies are reluctant to spend the money on marketing campaigns to win local support at the ballot box because of the uncertainty, he said. The popular vote has to be held 60 to 90 days after a host community agreement is approved by the City Council, he said.

"We have no choice but to support a deadline extension," Fiola said.

A spokesman for New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell issued a statement saying that city also supports the extension of the deadline until after a potential November referendum.

"As acknowledged previously, the city has had productive discussions with casino interests and believes a November deadline would provide sufficient opportunity to bring forward any potential proposals," the statement said.

While Commissioner Enrique Zuniga of the gaming board suggested the commission could let the current deadlines play out and extend the deadline if only one of the two companies meets it, Crosby said that would be unfair to the company and city that rushed to get a deal done.

"I'm really uncomfortable with the idea of letting someone come in by the 14th and then extending the deadline," Crosby said.

Whatever the commission decides, it needs to strike a balance and not allow the southeastern part of the state to fall too far behind the other two regions, said John Ziemba, the commission's ombudsman.

"Region C falling behind is not the problem," Crosby said. "It's Region C falling off the map completely."

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140613/NEWS/406130321/-1/NEWSLETTER100

Crisis! Exploitation by Casinos of Small New England Cities and Towns

MUST WATCH!

Former Conn. US Rep. Steele to speak: Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Liberal Club at 20 Star St., Fall River

This is a MUST if you haven't heard Former Conn. US Rep. Steele speak or read his book!

Only a neighbor knows how bad Predatory Gambling is and what it does to a community!

Former Conn. US Rep. Steele to speak against casino proposal at Liberal Club on Wednesday


FALL RIVER — Amid the possibility of a casino coming to Fall River — or New Bedford, depending on who you talk to — a group of Greater Fall River residents who opposed to Foxwoods' proposal to build a resort-style casino has been quietly organizing.


On Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Liberal Club at 20 Star St., the group called Citizens for the Common Good will host speaker, author and former Connecticut Congressman Robert Steele, who will give a presentation titled “The explosion of casino gambling and its impact on Connecticut, New England and the nation.”


The event is free and open to the public.


“Most people don’t know what is involved and how it affects their community,” Steele said.


From the 1970s to the late 1990s, Steele lived with his family on the edge of the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation, he said. Steele said he saw firsthand the effects of living in a community with the two largest casinos in the world in their backyard.


Steele said he’s been speaking to groups across the commonwealth and New York who oppose the development of casinos in their municipalities.


Former Fall River mayoral candidate and community organizer Joseph Carvalho said his group invited Steele to speak to “try to give people a sense of the other side of the story.”


“He’s coming to tell people the experience based on what’s happening in Connecticut,” Carvalho said. “The education process is very important, and we’re finding people are overwhelmed by the propaganda from Foxwoods.”


It’s important, according to Carvalho, to show people a casino is the wrong way to build a local economy.


Carvalho said Citizens for the Common Good was started in 2009 when Mayor Will Flanagan first proposed a casino at the site that now houses the biopark.


He said the group reorganized when it was made aware a new casino proposal was possible.


In January, Flanagan and Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera announced the casino conglomerate was looking to build a $750 million resort casino in Fall River.


Initially, the company identified a 30-acre parcel at the New Harbour Mall site, but Flanagan recently reported that Foxwoods was looking to move the project to a 120-acre waterfront site.


Foxwoods has not confirmed the change of location, and last week, The Standard-Times reported the company was in negotiations with New Bedford.


Flanagan said he received assurances from Butera the reports were not true and that Foxwoods remained committed to developing in Fall River.




http://www.tauntongazette.com/article/20140602/NEWS/140609465/1994/NEWS

Let's not forget that Foxwoods, with declining revenues in Connecticut due to GAMBLING MARKET SATURATION, is salivating to invade Massachusetts....well...maybe Fall River....maybe New Bedford....

Partners in failed Foxwoods project file for bankruptcy

By Jennifer Lin, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: April 03, 2014 

PHILADELPHIA The partnership behind the failed Foxwoods Casino project in South Philadelphia filed Monday for bankruptcy court protection, citing claims of $23.6 million from 14 creditors.

In addition, Citizens Bank, the largest creditor, is owed an unspecified amount, according to the court petition. People familiar with the situation say the bank lent the project about $75 million.

The partnership last week sold its largest asset, a vacant 16.5-acre lot on South Columbus Boulevard between Tasker and Reed Streets. The property was transferred to developer Bart Blatstein for $13 million.

Of the proceeds, $8 million went to the City of Philadelphia to settle a tax bill.

The land sale came more than seven years after the Foxwoods Casino project was awarded a license to open a slot-machine parlor in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners (PEDP), which included 13 local investors and the Mashantucket Pequot tribe of Connecticut, spent $50 million for the license.

But after repeated delays and problems with financing, the state's Gaming Control Board revoked the license in 2010 - and the state kept the $50 million license fee. The partnership tried unsuccessfully to retrieve the money through state courts.

Brian Ford, a PEDP representative, said that if the bankruptcy petition is accepted, the group will try to recover the licensing fee through action in federal court.

Ford, a casino-industry consultant who worked on the Foxwoods project, said the licensing fee was the partnership's only "contingent asset."

The creditors include five law firms: Cozen O'Connor, $6.46 million; Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg, $1.27 million; Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel, $940,757; Blank Rome, $812,231; and Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, $677,930.

Others with claims are Ford, $4 million; Washington Philadelphia Investors, the partnership for local investors in the Foxwoods deal, $5.7 million; and Foxwoods Development Co., the development arm of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, $2.64 million.

The main local investors in the Foxwoods deal included Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, and family charitable trusts for developer Ron Rubin and the daughter of Lewis Katz. Katz is one of the owners of Interstate General Media, owner of The Inquirer.


http://articles.philly.com/2014-04-03/news/48805632_1_pedp-foxwoods-deal-ron-rubin

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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• Mass. high court considers casino repeal ballot question
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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

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.

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»  Social News

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

LINKS
• • Foxwoods seeks waterfront property to expand Fall River c...
• • Cromwell gives update on proposed Taunton casino at Chamb...
• • Gaming Commission alters SE Mass. casino investment thres...
• • Fall River officials send letters to Gaming Commission ex...
• • Though Gaming Commission extends casino application deadl...
• • Flanagan discusses draft of host community agreement for ...
• • Tiverton officials decide to stay out of Fall River casin...
• • SIDE STREETS: The language of locating a casino in Fall R...
• • At public hearing, Foxwoods and Fall River officials tout...
• • Mayor Flanagan unfazed by competition for Fall River casino
• • Potential casino site includes properties adjacent to New...
• • Foxwoods, Fall River developing host agreement after Sout...

»  Social News

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.

 

http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20140528/NEWS/140526195