Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein, who submitted a bid for the Provence in the northern end of Philadelphia’s Center City district as the city’s second casino property, has withdrawn his appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s decision to award the license to Live! Casino Hotel.
Blatstein had appealed the board’s decision to license Live!, a partnership of Cordish Companies and Parx owner Greenwood Racing adjacent to the Philadelphia sports-stadium complex, on the basis that his Provence project, a four-block entertainment, retail and gaming proposal centered at the iconic former Philadelphia Inquirer clock-tower building, would draw tourists to Philadelphia, rather than cannibalizing convenience gamblers.
When submitting his appeal, he called the Live! project just another “slots-in-a-box” casino that would draw no new business to the city.
Last week, the developer announced that he is withdrawing the appeal because he has new interest in the properties on which the Provence was to be built. Through Tower Entertainment, the parent company formed for the Provence, Blatstein issued a statement citing “significant interest from other entities in that property,” which would remain idle through what would be a lengthy appeal and re-bid process.
“This multi-year effort would result in the Provence properties at 400 N. Broad Street standing idle and unproductive for the foreseeable future,” the statement said, “That result is unacceptable, and this supremely located property is too important to sit fallow any longer.
“It’s unfortunate that the gaming board passed on a transformational, game-changing development in the Provence and instead settled for another dumbed-down, slots-in-a-box project in a landlocked, congested location with zero potential for economic development spin-off.”
Blatstein’s parting shot at the gaming board went even further. “The gaming board has exhibited a total disregard for the fact-based findings of independent studies, the opinions of Philadelphia’s elected leadership, and the will of its citizens,” the statement said. “Tower Entertainment has no confidence whatsoever in the ethical behavior of certain gaming board members and their relationships with certain lobbyists.”
Blatstein’s dropping of the appeal does not eliminate the challenge to the license, as SugarHouse Casino joined in the appeal on the basis that the Philadelphia region is oversaturated with casinos, and a second city casino will only cannibalize existing Pennsylvania casinos, which have seen declining revenues for two years running.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has never overturned a decision of the gaming board on licensing, despite appeals of all 13 board decisions on casinos since 2006.
