As previously reported, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission was supposed to discuss the opportunity for extending the deadline for casino bidders willing to complete the Southeastern Massachusetts project.
Mere hours ago, it became clear that the developers that proposed projects for casinos in New Bedford and Somerset are given some more time to deal with the matters related to their applications. The Gaming Commission set May 4th as a due date for the submission of the applications.
Meanwhile, KG Urban, the company that expressed interest in establishing a Foxwoods casino in New Bedford, has already signed an agreement with Mayor John Mitchell. According to the clauses included in the contract, the city of New Bedford will receive $4.5 million as an upfront payment and $12.5 million on annual basis provided that a casino in New Bedford is built.
Actually, the outcome was pretty unexpected as two weeks ago, the possibility of signing such an agreement was too slim.
However, the agreement does not change the fact that KG Urban missed the deadline. The failure to submit the necessary paperwork on time made KG Urban officials ask for a deadline extension.
During the meeting, held yesterday, representatives of KG Urban were among the attendees and had the opportunity to support their request with convincing arguments.
As for the joint venture of Somerset on the Move and Crossroads, developers wanted the deadline to be extended by 21 days but at the end of the day, they were granted a 46-day period just like their competitors KG Urban.
It seems like the Somerset project has reached a dead end and developers need to take urgent measures, otherwise the project is not likely to get regulator’s approval. For the time being, neither a host agreement is signed, nor the financial aspect has been revealed.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is expected to announce the name of the investor that is to build a casino by the fall.
Developers willing to establish a casino in Brockton managed to submit their application on time and people with knowledge on the matter suspected that namely the Brockton project will get regulator’s nod.
In comparison, the other two investors have already asked for a deadline extension twice. Although the Gaming Board voted in favor of the extension, the majority of commissioners were unhappy with their decision as according to them, such an extension was going to lead nowhere. They are convinced that if the two developers failed in meeting the deadline the first time, the extension would hardly make them more organized.
The Brockton project also had its representatives at yesterday’s meeting and the previous Mayor Jack Yunits did not miss to put emphasis on the fact that Brockton developers succeeded in meeting the deadline and recommended the members of the Commission to “treat the rules like rules, not guidelines”. Yet, members’ final decision was extending the deadline for both casino projects.
