The Massachusetts Gaming Commission this week held a public hearing to review the proposed changes for the MGM Springfield by its developer. In light of rising costs MGM has proposed to cut the footprint of the casino resort by about 10 percent, and to eliminate the 24-story hotel in favor of a six-story hotel with the same number of rooms. The project has risen in estimated cost from 0 million to 0 million says MGM.
But that didn’t make sense to Chairman Stephen Crosby.
“Show us some particulars. Or tell us it was a colossal budget error,” Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby told MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis. “The numbers are just so big. It does not make sense to me.”
Crosby said he was confused how costs could increase by at least 25 percent, yet the size of the facility shrunk by 10 percent.
“Anyway you come at it, it’s a big change,” Crosby said.
The original size the property was to be 800,000 square feet. But MGM recently scrapped plans for a 25-story hotel tower in favor of a six-story low-rise building, and eliminating plans for an apartment building on site. The overall size of the facility decreased as well.
Mathis said the design changes were able to save the company about $75 million. Without them, he said, costs would have soared to more than $1 billion. But he couldn’t promise that the company would e forthcoming with a complete accounting of the project, saying some of the information would be “proprietary.”
“We’re not trying to be elusive on the answers,” he said.
