Casino news source: South Coast Today - http://www.southcoasttoday.com
Casino developers visit city
By Aaron Nicodemus
NEW BEDFORD — After a four-year hiatus, casino gaming interests are once again focusing on New Bedford as a possible home for a new casino.
One casino company, Northeast Resorts of East Longmeadow, has purchased on option on a mill in the city's Hicks-Logan district. Representatives from two other casino companies, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Penn National Gaming, met with city officials this week.
The head of the New Bedford Economic Development Council, Matthew A. Morrissey, predicted the trickle of casino companies expressing interest in the city will turn into a flood.
"There are plenty of casino interests out there, and I think this is the beginning of a trail of them coming in here," Mr. Morrissey said. "We will tell them all that the process will be open and transparent, and that no one from the city is going to be a shill for casino interests."
Asked about his feelings on casino gambling, Mr. Morrissey replied, "I'm very cautious." He said city officials are willing to meet with casino interests, as they would with any company considering an investment in the city, but are not giving casinos any kind of special status.
"We have a clear economic development strategy and we don't have the resources to be diverted thinking that casino gambling is some sort of panacea," he said. "We cannot ignore the potential benefits that could exist."
Mayor Scott W. Lang said he has asked casino companies not to buy options on New Bedford properties.
"My feeling is that it's counter-productive to come in and buy up options at low rates, which stunts economic development while this whole gambling debate plays out," he said. "You could literally have everything come to a standstill with this Music Man approach of casino, casino, casino."
That being said, Mayor Lang said he has indicated to the casino companies that New Bedford is willing and ready to host a casino should the state legalize casino gaming.
All this interest comes as the debate over casino gaming has been heating up, both with the federal recognition of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and with Gov. Deval Patrick pledging to study the pros and cons of gambling.
As things stand now, though, casino gambling is illegal in Massachusetts. The Wampanoag tribe on Martha's Vineyard has tried in vain for years to promote its own casino. And while a majority of the state Senate favors gambling, the majority of the state House of Representatives opposes gambling.
Why do casino developers come to New Bedford? For one, the city has consistently shown a preference, even a desire, to host one. Voters have twice passed referendums in favor of casino gambling.
Four years ago, casino developer H. Steven Norton bought options with several waterfront property owners in the Hicks-Logan area of the city, located just off Interstate 195 with views of the Acushnet River. Mr. Norton is back, partnered this time with Northeast Realty and Leon Dragone, and has purchased an option on a mill on North Front Street.
Mr. Norton would only say this week that his company has purchased an option on waterfront property in New Bedford. Mr. Morrissey said the property in question is at 100 North Front St., owned by Paul Bishins. When contacted, Mr. Bishins declined to comment.
"I think that's accurate, what you're saying," Mr. Norton said yesterday. "We are in control of a parcel of land in New Bedford. We're looking at sites in Southeastern Massachusetts."
Mr. Norton referred a reporter to his business partner, Leon Dragone of East Longmeadow, who could not be reached for comment. Mr. Norton and Mr. Dragone recently purchased a piece of property in Palmer, off the Massachusetts Turnpike, which they envision as a casino site for Western Massachusetts. While Mr. Dragone brings real estate development experience to the partnership, Mr. Norton is a major player in the gaming world with experience in two of the gambling capitals in the United States: Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J., as well as the Bahamas.
Mr. Norton is the former president and chief operating officer of the Sands Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Mr. Norton was president and chief operating officer of Argosy Gaming Co., which owned casinos and riverboat gambling operations in the Midwest, Louisiana and Florida before it merged with Penn National Gaming in 2005. More recently, Mr. Norton has been a casino gambling consultant.
Although Mr. Dragone and Mr. Norton have been actively seeking options all along the North Terminal waterfront, according to Mr. Morrissey, they have not yet asked for a meeting with city officials.
This week, Mr. Morrissey said he had meetings with two casino gambling companies this week. First, he met with representatives from Sands BethWorks Gaming, a subsidiary of the Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Mr. Morrissey said they discussed in general terms the company's interest in locating a casino in the city. Councilor-at-large David Alves, who also attended the meeting, gave the representatives a tour of the city. Mayor Lang joined the meeting after returning from a funeral. Sands BethWorks Gaming did not return a call yesterday.
Sands BethWorks Gaming was recently given permission by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to build a casino on the grounds of the defunct Bethlehem Steel Works in Bethlehem, Pa. In its first phase, the 126-acre development will feature a 300-room hotel, 200,000 square feet of retail space, 3,000 slot machines and a variety of dining and entertainment options. The property also will be home to the National Museum of Industrial History, an arts and cultural center and the broadcast home of the local PBS affiliate. The company hopes to open the complex in 2008, according to a December 2006 press release announcing the deal.
Later in the week, two vice presidents from Penn National Gaming visited the city and met with Mr. Morrissey and the mayor. They flew their jet into New Bedford Regional Airport, he said. A spokesman for one of the vice presidents said he typically does not comment on ongoing discussions.
"They pretty much came in to kick the tires, look at new markets and talk to us about what they're looking to do," Mr. Morrissey said. The two executives had expressed interest in one particular piece of waterfront property in New Bedford, but Mr. Morrissey would not reveal which one.
Penn National Gaming, with $2.2 billion in revenue annually, owns and operates casino and horse-racing facilities with a focus on slot machine entertainment, according to the company's Web site. The company currently operates 16 facilities in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ontario. In total, Penn National's operated facilities feature approximately 21,000 slot machines, more than 400 table games, approximately 1,500 hotel rooms and approximately 750,000 square feet of gaming floor space.
Contact Aaron Nicodemus at anicodemus@s-t.com |
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