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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Excerpts below -- worth reading in its entirety from Fall River Herald News about Mayor Flanagan selling Fall River down the river to win re-election.
Poor man's confused!
City Councilor Linda Pereira said that during contract negotiations with the firefighters, the union requested a 4 percent raise, but Flanagan offered 7.5 percent, and education and clothing allowance go into the base pay, increasing a pension and further burdening the pension system.
“I had a conversation about that with the mayor because it was wrong to do,” Pereira said. “ ... And I know you as a union representative said (to Flanagan) can you afford this, and he told you yes. ... You are not the only ones in this community that have been deceived because I’ve, too, been deceived.”
It was the same agreement Flanagan negotiated with the police union, she said.
[ON LINK] Fall River Fire Department District Chief James Mellen, left, who is vice president of the firefighters Local 1314, points out what he says are discrepancies in Mayor Will Flanagan's statements regarding proposed fire department staffing levels. Seated next to Mellen is the union local's president, Firefighter Jason Burns. Union members in the audience are wearing white T-shirts.
Jo C. Goode Herald News Staff Reporter Posted Mar. 26, 2014
FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan’s administration identified a $10 million budget shortfall in August 2013 and acknowledged that a reduction in firefighters would put the city’s safety at risk, according to information contained in a 2013 SAFER grant application.
But those facts contradict recent statements made by the administration claiming that the shortfall wasn’t discovered until January and claims by Flanagan that the planned layoffs of 60 firefighters would still keep the city within federal fire safety standards.
During the public comment portion of the City Council meeting Tuesday night, union representatives of the firefighters Local 1314 outlined those facts after a request from City Councilor Michael Miozza to review the 2013 SAFER grant.
Union President Jason Burns said that, when he was hired as a firefighter for the city, he took an oath to protect and serve, whether it was to fight fires or respond to other emergencies.
“Tonight, it’s a little bit different. But it’s still protecting and serving,” Burns said. “I’m here to sound the alarm, not with my words, but the papers before you, in the mayor’s words.”
Burns said Flanagan was either being untruthful to the federal government or untruthful to the residents.
Contacted Tuesday night, Flanagan said he didn’t recall the details of the SAFER grant application and would meet with the financial team today and will make a public comment after the meeting.
The city is seeking funding for 16 firefighters, which would total more than $3.2 million. It identified in the application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that it was committed to funding the 79 firefighter positions currently paid for through a $14.4 million SAFER grant awarded in 2011.
But in February, Flanagan announced plans to lay off more than 30 percent of the fire department staff — 60 firefighters. It would reduce the complement of firefighters from 213 to 153.
Until December, according to firefighter union representatives, Flanagan had promised the department that the city would fund a staff of 200 firefighters.
In the application, a projected $10 million gap was identified as the reason the city could not support its staffing needs.
The fiscal 2015 budget shortfall wasn’t made public until this month, and it wasn’t mentioned by City Administrator Cathy Ann Viveiros and Treasurer John Nunes when they delivered the City Council’s first quarterly budget update in January.
The council briefings passed an ordinance requiring the administration to make quarterly updates on the municipal budget and the water and sewer enterprise funds.
During questioning by city councilors, Viveiros and Nunes reiterated that the shortfall was found in January, but Miozza quizzed Nunes, who was part of the finance team at the time the grant application was written, on whether he was aware of the $10 million gap in August.
This Thursday. Hastily organized. Gonna be interesting. And I suppose our one
and only chance to have our say. Please, everyone who can, attend and
speak.
He says he is limiting the discussion to the host agreement. No
discussion given to location
Hearing on proposed Fall River casino scheduled for Thursday
Public hearing to take place at 6:30 p.m. in Government Center.
Posted Mar. 17, 2014 @ 1:21 pm Updated at 12:17 AM
Herald News Photo | Jack Foley |
A woman exits the New Harbour Mall in heavy rain recently. Fall River officials have indicated the mall and adjacent properties could potentially host a casino.
Jo C. Goode Herald News Staff Reporter Posted Mar. 17, 2014 @ 1:21 pm Updated at 12:17 AM
Jo C. Goode Herald News Staff Reporter Posted Mar. 17, 2014
FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan is holding a public forum to give residents a chance to say what they think is important in the development of the community host agreement with Foxwoods Resort Casino and the investment group Crossroads Massachusetts LLC.
The forum is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in the atrium of Government Center. It will be broadcast by Fall River Community Television.
“This will center directly on the host agreement. I want to hear directly from the people on what it should be,” Flanagan said.
Foxwoods and the mayor have fast-tracked the process since it was announced in January that the casino conglomerate was determined to build a destination resort casino in Fall River.
Before a referendum can be put before voters, Foxwoods and the city have to complete the community host agreement.
Flanagan said he intends to bring it to a vote in early June and Foxwoods has a deadline of July 27 to submit its application to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
The mayor stressed the event in not meant to be a debate about the location, with Flanagan saying the project is site-certain.
Foxwoods plans to develop a $750 million destination resort casino, which would include a 140,000-square-foot gambling floor, approximately 20 restaurants, a 350-room hotel, a “name brand” shopping mall, an entertainment arena, a convention center and a spa.
Foxwoods claims the investment will create 3,000 to 5,000 jobs.
The principals of the project, Flanagan and Kenneth Fiola Jr., of the Fall River Office of Economic Development, announced Foxwoods’ plans in late January. Fiola has been the lead on the proposed casino project.
David Nunes, the chief development officer for Foxwoods, announced last week that it had secured a 30-acre parcel but declined to identify the location.
The Herald News learned from a reliable source that the properties are the New Harbour Mall and the Kmart shopping center, which represents approximately 28 acres, and the Staples store location near the mall, which adds another 3.36 acres.
The site abuts the Letourneau Elementary School.
Flanagan said the forum will give residents an opportunity to weigh in on issues like the size of the amenity, employment and how many people hired should be Fall River residents, if those jobs should be union or an open shop, how to mitigate traffic and how much revenue the city should expect as the host community.
Invited to the forum are representatives of Foxwoods, Fiola, Police Chief Daniel Racine, Fire Chief Robert Viveiros, Community Development Agency Executive Director Michael P. Dion, City Engineer Byron Holmes and Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Sousa, Flanagan said.
If anyone is unable to attend Thursday’s forum, Flanagan said people can email their suggestions to mayor@frma.org.
Letter: Fall River's hand is weak on Foxwoods casino proposal
Posted Feb. 1, 2014
We need jobs in Fall River, but a casino is no silver bullet.
I do not buy that this type of business will increase crime; we already have crime.
I do believe that casinos are breeding grounds for organized crime, generally speaking.
Additionally, after the construction is complete, the majority of employment that would remain is lower income: wait staff, cleaning crews, low-end security.
While the city would gain a higher-end taxpayer, there will be property tax collected and possibly a small revenue-sharing deal, but make no mistake:
Whatever profit is made will be shipped out of the area.
I am also concerned for the current restaurants in our city. Adding a casino could expose them to a new clientele base they would otherwise not have access to. It could also monopolize the market by offering extremely good dinning deals to lure customers in for an extended period of time, putting their competition out of business.
Take a stroll to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun and count the number of hospitality type businesses outside the casino property in a one-mile radius.
It really seems Mayor Will Flanagan loves to gamble with the city.
A casino in our community is a gamble, and our hand at this table is weak at best.
Given the right location, namely on the waterfront, a well planned all inclusive resort could be a draw to our city.
Something in the woods will be just that, something in the woods.
In any case, this is far from a "made" deal, with only one casino slated for southeastern Massachusetts.
Expect a showdown on Beacon Hill or at least a grudge match with Taunton.
Daniel Botelho
Fall River
- See more at: http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20140201/OPINION/140209704/2011#sthash.1SAUpFYs.dpuf
Mayor Flanagan genuflected before the Predatory Gambling Industry last time around and now can't wait to do the same with developers [the Foxwoods/Nunes Duo] that lied to Milford residents who had the sense to inform themselves and toss them out.
Once again, the LOW WAGE JOB projections are OVERSTATED, Foxwoods is laying off in Connecticut because of declining revenues and Gambling Market Saturation.
Predatory Gambling has NEVER been economic development - Atlantic City is the poster child for all that is wrong with Predatory Gambling!
Flanagan: Deal between Fall River, Foxwoods to be announced Tuesday
Mayor Will Flanagan said casino developer would invest $750 million in the project that would include a 140,000 square foot gaming floor and amenities
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Jan. 27, 2014 @ 2:03 pm
FALL RIVER — Foxwoods Casino and the investment group Crossroads Massachusetts LLC are looking to build a destination resort casino in the city after a failed attempt in Milford, Mayor Will Flanagan said today.
"We are ready to go," said Flanagan, "we just need a site."
Flanagan said the casino developers would invest $750 million in the project that would include a 140,000 square foot gaming floor, approximately 20 restaurants, a 350-room hotel, a "name brand" shopping mall, an entertainment arena, a convention center and spa.
In November, Milford voters soundly voted against plans to build a $1 billion resort casino. Flanagan said the day after the vote, he received a call from David Nunes, the chief operating officer of Foxwoods Massachusetts.
"He said I want to come to Fall River," Flanagan said, " I said okay, let's talk about the city."
Subsequent to that call, Flanagan and members of his administration met with Nunes and Foxwoods Casino CEO Scott Butera, he said. At the meeting they agreed to move forward with plans to locate a smaller scale casino and look at possible sites in the city.
Flanagan will officially announce Foxwoods interest in building in the city during a press conference with Butera and Nunes tomorrow. The casino developers have looked at several sites in the city already, Flanagan said, that could possibly sustain the development that requires 30 to 70 acres, although no location has been identified.
Flanagan and the Foxwoods officials will also announce the formation of a site selection committee with appointees being Robert Mellion, president of the Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Ken Fiola, vice president of the Fall River Office of Economic Development; John Sbrega, president of Bristol Community College; Joseph Camara, City Council president; Joseph Vienna, director of the Fall River Career Center; and Carl Garcia, chairman of the Workforce Investment Board and owner of Carl's Collision Center.
"Our goal is to have a site under agreement in the very near future," Flanagan said.
Flanagan said for him, bringing a casino to the city "is about LOW WAGE job creation," although he declined to immediately release the number of jobs that would be generated with the construction of the resort casino.
"My mission is that all jobs be Fall River preference and priority, so all city residents have first access at these jobs," Flanagan said.
Flanagan said he has two sites in mind at this time, one on the waterfront and one that is not, although no offers have been made on the properties.
Once Foxwoods secures a site for a casino, Flanagan said the issue will go to the voters as a ballot question, which he predicted will get overwhelming support. He wants it to go before the voters as soon as possible.
Foxwoods itching to get back into Massachusetts casino hunt
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
By Mark Arsenault / Globe Staff / December 22, 2013
Foxwoods Resort Casino has shaken off its referendum defeat in Milford a month ago and is actively searching for a way back into the Massachusetts casino sweepstakes, including possible sites in the southeastern region of the state.
“We would like to be in Massachusetts,” confirmed Foxwoods chief executive Scott Butera, in a
Globe interview. “We’re looking at a number of opportunities.”
Butera would not comment on specific communities, but the gambling giant has had conversations with officials in Fall River about building a casino in that city, according to a local person familiar with Foxwoods’ interest but not authorized to comment about it.
Asked if he has spoken to Foxwoods officials, Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan offered a cryptic, yet possibly telling, response. “Given the sensitivity of this, I can neither confirm nor deny if we are in discussions at this time,” the mayor said.
Flanagan then gave an enthusiastic sales pitch for his city, listing a number of reasons Fall River would be an excellent place for a resort casino, including the city’s convenient location near two state capitals, Boston and Providence, as well as two busy airports, Logan International and T.F. Green.
‘We would like to be in Massachusetts. We’re looking at a number of opportunities.’
The mayor also predicted that the right casino plan could win a vote in Fall River, which, given the mixed track record of casino referendums this year, is a top concern of gambling executives.
Voters in West Springfield, Palmer, East Boston, and Milford — unmoved by expensive procasino advertising campaigns — have killed resort casino proposals at the ballot box. Voters in just three Massachusetts cities — Revere, Everett, and Springfield — approved resort-style casinos in 2013.
Fall River is one of the few communities in the southeast region that is similar in profile to the procasino cities: economically distressed, largely urban, and already accustomed to busy roads and 24-hour businesses.
Butera said Foxwoods is “definitely considering the southeast,” though not exclusively that region.
The final deadline to complete applications in the other two regions, Western Massachusetts and Greater Boston, is Dec. 31. The deadline makes it hard to imagine how the company could be involved in one of those zones, though the state’s emerging casino industry has been unpredictable.
“Who knows what other twists and turns this process could take?” Butera said.
Interest from Foxwoods could renew attention on the sole resort casino license designated for Southeastern Massachusetts. Casino development in the southeast has taken a back seat while the state gambling commission oversees the license competition for the other two regions and for the state’s sole slot parlor.
The southeast region got a late start due to language in the 2011 state casino law that delayed bidding in the southeast to allow a federally recognized tribe, expected to be the Mashpee Wampanoag, time to make progress on a tribal casino in the region. Tribal casinos are approved under a federal process separate from the state’s competition.
The Mashpee want to build a casino in Taunton, but face legal hurdles to federal approval. Last April, the gambling commission lifted the freeze on commercial casino applications in the region, to try to ensure that the southeast would not fall too far behind the other areas.
But the possibility that the Mashpee may someday overcome their legal obstacles and open a gambling resort has seemed to chill interest from commercial developers.
Just one company, KG Urban, filed the $400,000 fee by last September’s deadline for new applicants to enter the contest for the southeast license. KG wants to build a casino in New Bedford. The city’s mayor, Jon Mitchell, has been skeptical in public comments that the gambling industry is right for his city.
As a failed applicant in another region, Foxwoods and its partners are exempt from the September deadline and could propose a casino in the southeast without paying another application fee. Other former applicants that could slide into the southeast include Rush Street Gaming and Hard Rock International.
The gambling commission expects to be in a position to award the southeast license by next November. It expects to award the other two resort licenses by May.
Foxwoods joined the Massachusetts casino market in February as a partner in an effort to build a casino off Interstate 495 in Milford, within the Greater Boston casino region. Foxwoods proposed a campus of low-rise buildings around a “town green,” on a wooded site, but Milford voters were adamantly against it, defeating the proposal 65 percent to 35 percent in a referendum on Nov. 19. The “no” votes prevailed in each of eight voting precincts.
In the Milford campaign, Foxwoods and its supporters tried to promote the benefits of the development: thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue to the town. Opponents argued that a gambling resort was an out-of-scale development for the suburbs.
The failure of the Milford project left just two applicants for the Greater Boston license: Wynn Resorts, in Everett, and the last-minute entry of a Mohegan Sun plan in Revere. The state gambling commission on Thursday waived one of its deadlines to permit a Revere referendum on the Mohegan Sun project, expected in February. To move forward, Mohegan Sun needs to reach a deal with Revere officials; talks have been ongoing but no deal has been announced.
The single Western Massachusetts resort license has just one remaining suitor: MGM Resorts, which has proposed a casino in Springfield.
Three companies are in the hunt for the state’s only slot parlor license: Penn National Gaming, in Plainville; Raynham Park, in Raynham; and Cordish Cos., in Leominster. That license is expected to be awarded in February or March.
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