Four casino developers have filed to indicate their interest in bidding for the license to build a casino to serve Massachusetts’s southeastern gaming zone. They have until January 30 to file applications and pay a 0,000 filing fee, so it is possible that there could be other bidders.
The Southeastern zone is centered around Fall River, New Bedford and the border with Rhode Island.
A surprise entry in the Southeastern casino market came when Somerset on the Move LLC’s bid was announced last week, with a casino proposed for the town of Somerset.
The town’s officials and board of selectmen have been working sotto voce and behind closed doors to try to entice gaming developers to make a bid for the last license that will be issue for the Bay State. They hired a law firm whose specialty is gaming: Considine & Furey, with the law firm getting 25 percent from first year gaming profits. The firm, which was involved in writing the state’s gaming expansion act, was tasked with finding a developer for 100 acres owned by the city, which is close to Interstate 195. They have been aiming to meet the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s January 30 deadline for filing an application and paying the non-refundable $400,000 filing fee.
The actual gaming developer behind the name Somerset on the Move has not yet been released.
The town was prompted to promote a casino resort to make up for lost revenue from local industry scaling back.
The other three potential bidders are Mass Gaming and Entertainment, out of Illinois, Seafan Trust (also known as Sun Moon Resort), based in Brookline, and one longtime player in the southeastern sweepstakes, KG Urban Enterprises out of New York, which proposes to build in the historic town of New Bedford. KG Urban had previously filed its intention to submit an application.
Mass Gaming and Entertainment is associated with Rush Street Gaming, which previously tested the waters on a slots parlor in Millbury two years ago.
Somerset on the Move is led by David Hanlon, who formerly ran Harrah’s Atlantic City casino as well as the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. He is also former president and chief executive officer of International Game Technology, which manufacturers slot machines.
Seafan Trust said it has an option for 500 acres at an undisclosed location. Kathryn Wheaton, a Native American who runs the corporation, wants to develop a $4 billion “Sun Moon Resort” at that location. The high cost of the proposal is raising some eyebrows since it dwarfs even Steve Wynn’s $1.6 billion proposal for Everett. Wheaton says she wants to run it to benefit Native Americans. She told South Coast Today, “It will be a place for everybody to enjoy themselves with activities other than gaming.”
The would-be casino developers are scheduled to meet with commission officials to release more details on their projects, according to commission spokesman Elaine Driscoll.
The Mohegan Sun, which lost out on its bid for a casino at Suffolk Downs racetrack, said it wouldn’t be bidding for the Southeastern license.
The elephant in the room of the Southeastern zone is the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which was initially promised the license as long as it fulfilled several conditions. The only condition it has not fulfilled is to put its land into trust. Its application to put 500 acres into trust in Taunton has not been acted upon as yet by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Meanwhile George Carney, owner of Raynham Park, who unsuccessfully bid for the lone Massachusetts slots parlor license last year, is trying to find backing from the Gaming Commission to support his bid to bring thoroughbred racing and gaming to Brockton Fairgrounds.
Brockton said last week that he is working with one of the potential bidders for the Southeastern casino license. He wouldn’t say which one, but did say that the investor was prepared to spend $600 million.
Carney first brought the idea up during a telephone survey of Brockton resident conducted last month. According to the Carney family they are looking at a variety of options including moving their simulcast racing to Brockton from Raynham, which currently only offers simulcast wagering.
Carney previously requested that the commission consider moving racing from Raynham to Brockton, whose city officials haven’t taken a firm position on the proposal. Mayor Bill Carpenter’s office commented, “We will be able to comment much better when we see the plan, but we are always open to new business development ideas.”
Some city council members who represent the wards that are next to the fairgrounds say they support economic development but are wary of increased traffic and possible social ills associated with gaming.
MGM Springfield
The Springfield city council last week voted to take the first of three steps required for approval of an ordinance that will limit city officials and elected officials, including the mayor, from working for the $800 million MGM Springfield Casino for five years after they leave city service, and two years for “major policymakers” who work for the city, such as a department head.
One of the 11-member-council, Timothy Rooke, called the proposed Casino Ethics Ordinance a “headline grabber.” The sponsor of the ordinance, Council President Michael Fenton defended the measure, calling it a first for the state and adding, “It will go a long way toward continuing to foster public trust around this project and is critically important to that.” Rooke also criticized the ordinance for singling out the gaming industry.
Other members support the concept but favor a shorter cooling off period before politicians and government officials can go to work for the casino. Council Orlando Ramos points out that even the Massachusetts Gaming Commission requires only three years before its members can accept a position in the industry.
However, councilor Timothy Allen declared, “The point of the ordinance is to build public trust.”
Fenton said he was open to amendments, but added, “We’ll see what the proposal looks like when we codify it into law, but I am determined to codify it into law.”
So far Mayor Domenic Sarno has said the state’s existing ethics rules are sufficient, but has yet to criticize Fenton’s proposal.
So far the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has also remained silent on the proposal. The commission’s spokesman, Elaine Driscoll, said last week, “As this is a local matter, we respectfully decline further comment.”
The MGM Springfield will require a number of zoning approvals from the city before it can move forward. Construction should begin later in 2015 and be completed in time for a 2017 opening. The casino has committed to recruiting the great majority of its 3,000 permanent employees from the city and immediate area.
Wynn’s Everett Casino
Although Boston’s mayor, Martin Walsh, is very insistent that his city should have a veto over the casino proposed by Steve Wynn for the city of Everett because its traffic would pass through Boston, he doesn’t think the issue is the same for Boston, which last week won the right to host the 2024 Olympics, defeating Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C.
“This is very different,” said Walsh when asked by reporters whether neighboring towns should be able to have a referendum on the issue. The city’s plans are still under wraps because the U.S. Olympic Committee had wanted to avoid a costly price war between cities vying for the honor. Walsh also insists, ““This truly is going to be a regional games,” because other towns in the area will be participating.
Walsh is doing his level best to fight the Wynn casino, including suing the Massachusetts Gaming Commission over its decision to grant Wynn a license, but it may end up being the state permitting process that delays the casino resort.
That is the opinion of Commissioner James F. McHugh, who was interviewed by the Boston Herald. “I don’t think necessarily the suit will delay it; I think it is the various permit-granting authorities that really hold the timing keys now,” he said. He noted that Wynn needs permits from the Boston Transportation Department and under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act—and that’s just the beginning. “What their reaction to the lawsuit is—and what the city’s participation in the permitting process is—really is going to determine how fast it’s going to go forward,” said McHugh.
The casino giant maintains that it will open on schedule, in spite of Boston’s court challenge. Former Bay State Governor William Weld, a consultant with Wynn, told a Boston radio broadcast, “Nothing is more than 75 percent sure in litigation — that I’m sure of … We’ll see how it turns out in court, but I don’t see any obstacle to it opening on time.”
