The search for a site for a third Connecticut casino will begin in earnest again, more than a year after it first started. Officials with the Mashantucket Pequot and the Mohegan tribes say the circumstances of the previously proposed sites have dramatically changed, requiring a restarting of the process.
“Even with those candidates that we’ve had from the beginning, we’ve had this recognition by some of those communities that perhaps there are other alternatives within those communities,” Kevin Brown, chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Authority, told the Hartford Courant. “That is part of the reason it is a good move for us to open it up and allow a relook at other potential locations.”
This time Hartford may be in the running as its financial crisis deepens, with bankruptcy a possibility.
Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, says that he’s open to any town that has interest.
“I hate to speculate that a new town will enter in,” Butler said. “We’ve heard interest throughout the process. It’s possible, but again, unless we see something, we are not chasing anything.”
The new proposals are due October 15, but no timeline was specified. Brown says the goal is to have a site selected in time for the next legislative session, which begins in January. They are working under the aegis of a bill passed last year by the Connecticut legislature that authorized them to identify a site for a casino, but leave the final decision to the lawmakers.
One of the sites proposed may be in Hartford.
Silver Lane Partners LLC announced last week that it has reached an agreement with Radisson Hotel Hartford to propose a joint project: a casino in East Hartford that would meet the needs of the state’s two gaming tribes.
They are proposing a third tribal casino for the state, built near the border, as a way to lessen the impact that the $950 million MGM Springfield will have on their business. Springfield is about 18 miles from Hartford.
The facility would be located near the intersection of Interstates 84 and 91, described by Silver Lane as “the most heavily trafficked interchange in the state of Connecticut.” The hotel would serve the casino, which would be four miles away—with shuttles taking guests back and forth.
The plan has been presented to MMCT Venture, which is the joint arm of the Mashantucket Pequot-Mohegan partnership.
The MGM Springfield, looking at a 2019 opening, could make a deep cut into the revenues that the tribes pay the state, which is about $7 billion over the last two decades. One study projected that the MGM could take $702 million in profits from the two casinos, and affect 9,300 jobs.
Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, said last week “One of our primary objectives in pursuing this new facility is to make sure that this mutually beneficial partnership continues long into the future.”
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff commented, “We know there are literally tens of thousands of jobs at stake on this issue. When we frame it as saving Connecticut jobs and that there are hard-working, middle-income people’s jobs who are at stake, who have health and retirement benefits, I think that becomes very real to legislators.”
MGM is suing the state over the law that allows the tribes to pursue a third casino. Heading its legal team is former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
