In the newspaper today the leasehold interest is being foreclosed on by the Massachusetts Property and Casualty Insurance Companies Community and Economic Development Initiative. Although it is a great lease couple hundred per year through 2026 wonder if they know about the 250,000 in taxes due?
13 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Allegiant Air Announces: Two New Destinations/Bases: Phoenix And Fort Lauderdale Wednesday August 1, 9:00 am ET
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Low-cost airline, Allegiant Air, LLC, a subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company (Nasdaq: ALGT - News) today announced it will establish bases at two new world-class, leisure destinations: Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060516/LATU102LOGO )
Flying from America's "favorite" small cities, Allegiant plans to launch the new service to Phoenix-Mesa Oct. 25 from 13 markets already served by the carrier.
On Nov. 14, Allegiant will begin nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale from 12 markets, 11 of which already enjoy Allegiant's unique brand of vacation value and convenience.
The first route will be announced and available for purchase Aug. 9 and all routes will be announced by the end of September. A clock on the company's website will provide a count down to each new city announcement and can be viewed at www.allegiantair.com.
"We're extremely pleased to add both sunny South Florida and Arizona to our growing roster of world-class vacation destinations," Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., Allegiant Travel Company president and CEO, said. "These two new markets will give our customers even more opportunities to enjoy a convenient, low-cost and sunny vacation getaway."
The self-proclaimed "Official Airline for Sunshine" will base 130-seat, MD-80 series jet aircraft at Williams Gateway Airport and 150-seat aircraft at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. With the addition of these two new bases, the Las Vegas-based airline will service five world-class, leisure destinations, including McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas), Orlando Sanford International Airport and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.
Allegiant Air currently provides low-cost scheduled service to more than 50 cities across the U.S., with 42 routes to Las Vegas, 26 routes to Orlando and 14 routes to the Tampa Bay area. In addition to its scheduled service, the airline also operates charter service throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
As a full-service travel company, Allegiant provides even greater savings to customers by offering complete, low-cost vacation packages. Allegiant will partner with premier hotels and resorts in both Arizona and South Florida. The company will provide low-cost car rental service through its partnership with Alamo Rent a Car.
Reservations may be made through the company's website at www.allegiantair.com, the airline's Reservations Center at 702-505-8888 or professional travel agents.
About the Company
Las Vegas based Allegiant Travel Company (Nasdaq: ALGT - News), is focused on linking travelers in small cities to world-class leisure destinations such as Las Vegas, Nev., Phoenix, Ariz., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Orlando, Fla. and Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla. Through its subsidiary, Allegiant Air, the Company operates a low-cost, high-efficiency, all-jet passenger airline offering air travel both on a stand-alone basis and bundled with hotel rooms, rental cars and other travel related services. ALGT/G
With all the ex-Worcesterites living in the Deerfield Beach/Pompano Beach etc area near Ft. Lauderdale and W. Palm Beach, an ORH to FT Lauderdale route would have been at or near 100% capacity all the time ... and that's not even factoring in 'snow birds'....they would have had to add planes. Another blown opportunity for ORH, not to mention ORH's reputation among other air carriers in picking airports, think Skybus...
By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF jmonahan@telegram.com
BOSTON— While the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe presses forward with its plan to build a casino in Middleboro, Sheldon Adelson, majority shareholder and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp., told the Telegram & Gazette yesterday that he remains interested in building a resort-style casino “in the Marlboro area,” off Interstate 495.
“It’s up to the government, the governor and the Legislature,” Mr. Adelson said of the decisions facing the state over whether to allow casino gambling. His comments came after a two-hour private meeting at the Statehouse yesterday with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, D-Boston, who has opposed expanded gaming in the state in the past.
Mr. Adelson, now considered the third-wealthiest person in the United States with more than $20 billion in assets, maintains a home in Newton. He emphasized that he spoke with Mr. DiMasi about the pending decisions over casinos yesterday, both as a concerned resident and a casino developer.
“I care more about what happens in Massachusetts with all my family here. I told the speaker and I’d tell the governor, I put on two hats. One is my resident hat. My other is my commercial hat. They are two different things,” said Mr. Adelson, who grew up in Dorchester. “I am a Massachusetts resident. I still have a home here. My ex-wife came from Worcester.”
Asked if he was preparing to develop a full-scale resort casino here at this point, he said, “If the state wants to do it, yeah.”
“Whatever happens, happens. It’s up to the government,” he said noting his company, which operates the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, and is completing the $2.2 billion Venetian Macau Casino in China, is well-suited to build a casino in the Bay State.
“We are the biggest real estate and casino developers in the world. We are developing 60 million square feet right now,” Mr. Adelson said, adding that he believes Massachusetts would be an excellent location for a casino.
“Look what is going on in Connecticut,” he said of the success realized at the two casinos opened in that state in the 1990s.
Meanwhile, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is pushing for a resort casino in Boston at Suffolk Downs. New York City developer Richard Fields, now the largest investor in Suffolk Downs, developed a casino with the Seminole tribe in Florida and wants to develop a resort casino at the well-known Boston track.
Mr. Adelson has met previously with Mr. DiMasi to discuss casino plans. On May 21 he met with state Housing and Economic Development Secretary Daniel O’Connell as Mr. O’Connell was completing a comprehensive study of social, economic and other issues posed by possible casino development in Massachusetts for Gov. Deval L. Patrick.
That study is believed to contain analysis of casino experiences in many other states across the country, as well as scenarios and options the state could pursue in terms of how many casinos, what types and where they may be allowed. It was delivered to the governor last week.
The governor said he is currently studying the report now and will use it as he reaches a decision on whether to support casino gambling, which is expected at the end of August. His office rejected a request by the Telegram & Gazette to publicly disclose the gaming study this week, saying he was using the report as a policy document while he makes up his mind on whether to allow casino gambling.
Federal recognition of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe earlier this year set the stage for new consideration of casino gambling in the state, with that tribe pressing for negotiations with the governor over an agreement that would allow them to open a casino.
Town meeting voters in Middleboro on Saturday overwhelmingly approved an agreement that would allow the tribe to develop a casino on several hundred acres the tribe has secured there, also off I-495.
While the governor has insisted he has not made up his mind on casino gambling here, his interest in considering the option, and federal recognition of the Mashpee tribe has brought the issue to the fore.
Mr. DiMasi, who led opposition in the House that overwhelmingly defeated a Senate approved plan to allow slot machines at the state’s four race tracks last year, has not said how he would view the new casino proposals, if the governor decides to pursue a compact allowing the Mashpee tribe to build a casino or other expanded gaming options this year.
Some House Republicans, however, believe that Mr. DiMasi’s reluctance to approve expanded gambling remains the key barrier facing casino proposals here at this point.
House Assistant Minority Leader George N. Peterson, D-Grafton, who supports casino gambling, said last month he believes Mr. DiMasi will continue to block casino gaming in the state. “My sense is the speaker does not want to expand gaming in the commonwealth, period,” Mr. Peterson said.
Dave Guarino, spokesman for Mr. DiMasi, said yesterday’s meeting was not the first time Mr. Adelson and the speaker have sat down to discuss his interest in casino development here.
At this point, he said, the speaker “is waiting for the governor’s report.”
During his visit to the Statehouse, Mr. Adelson also met and chatted briefly with state Rep. John J. Binienda Sr., D-Worcester, who told the casino magnate how much he enjoyed the Venetian in Las Vegas when he visited there.
Mohegan group wants Mass. casino Signs deal to develop Palmer site By Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | August 2, 2007
The operators of the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut, rather than fight to keep gaming out of Massachusetts, want to open their own casino in the western part of the state.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority signed an exclusivity deal last week with a development company that owns a 150-acre swath of land in Palmer, near the Massachusetts Turnpike, according to Frank Fitzgerald, a lawyer involved in the deal.
The developers hope to build a retail complex whether or not gaming is approved in Massachusetts. But they have teamed up with Mohegan Sun so that if the state does back commercial gaming, the tribe could apply for a license to operate a casino on the site.
Observers view Mohegan Sun's foray into Massachusetts as a sign that the Connecticut tribe sees expanded gaming in Massachusetts as likely, if not inevitable, especially after Middleborough approved a deal last weekend with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to bring the state's first casino to the rural Southeastern Massachusetts town. The Mohegan deal also reflects the mania sweeping the state as gambling interests from here and around the country line up for a piece of the action.
Sheldon Adelson, for example, a Dorchester native who made a billion-dollar fortune developing casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere, visited yesterday with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, trying to drum up support for a casino along the Interstate 495 rim in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Like other gambling proponents, Adelson has made his pitch to Daniel O'Connell, state secretary of economic development, who headed a study group that compiled data on gambling and turned it over to Governor Deval Patrick last week. Among the documents included was Adelson's market analysis.
Mohegan Sun officials will now begin analyzing the Palmer site to determine how large a casino it could support and what kind of infrastructure improvements would be required. Members of the development team visited Beacon Hill this week to brief legislators and State House casino advocates on their plans.
"I've learned it's never wise to speculate on what may happen in a jurisdiction," said Mitchell Etess, chief executive officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. "As everybody else, we're keeping our eye on what is happening. There are a million possible scenarios. Clearly, we're very familiar with the Northeast and this market and what people here like."
Etess downplayed the possibility that a casino in Palmer would compete with Mohegan Sun's resort in Uncasville, Conn., which is less than 100 miles away from the Massachusetts town of 12,000. "We're always looking at various ways to diversify our operations," he said, adding that the tribe may also bid to operate New York's three horse racetracks.
Fitzgerald said the owner of the Palmer land, Northeast Realty Associates LLC, which he represents, recently bought the property which had been optioned for a casino years ago. He said Northeast Realty, one of whose partners is a former gambling company executive, has been "aggressively pursing economic development" at the site that could also include retail stores, possibly a hotel and residences.
The group teamed up with Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns "significant retail developments" across the country and is looking to develop a multiuse complex on the site, with or without gambling.
"We all know that with what's going on in Middleborough and elsewhere it seems like something may happen," Fitzgerald said. "No one is presuming it will. But in the event that gaming becomes legalized in the state, Mohegan Sun has agreed to assist in master planning for the project."
Because the casino would not be on sovereign tribal land, it would be treated like any other commercial business, subject to state and local taxes. The developers have been meeting with local elected and appointed officials, "so they can ask questions and understand what is possible," Fitzgerald said. "We don't want to foist the project on the town or region."
According to a representative of one of the four Massachusetts racetracks, Mohegan Sun had looked previously to partner with each of the tracks but couldn't reach agreement.
The Palmer town manager, Richard Fitzgerald, said last night that he had not received official word of the Mohegan deal, adding that "the answer I could give would be premature."
It would not be the first proposal to locate a casino in that part of Massachusetts. The Nipmuc Nation, which gained preliminary federal recognition on the last day of the Clinton administration in 2001, took steps to buy about 300 acres in Sturbridge, next to Interstate 84. Those plans collapsed after the Bush administration overturned the recognition in late 2001, saying most of the asserted members of the tribe could not adequately authenticate their Indian ancestry.
The Mohegan tribe, based in Uncasville, next to the Thames River in southeast Connecticut, became wealthy with the success of the Mohegan Sun, which opened in 1996 as a large hall filled with slot machines.
Backing the tribe, which numbered less than 1,000 members, was a local hotelier, Len Wolman, and an international casino mogul, Sol Kerzner. Wolman and Kerzner are now partnered with the Mashpee Wampanoag in its Middleborough plan. They have said that Mohegan Sun is their model for Massachusetts.
Some doubted whether a new casino could compete with the established Foxwoods, opened by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in 1992. But Mohegan Sun became successful so quickly that by 2002 Kerzner and Wolman had doubled the size of the casino and added a 34-floor hotel, shops, restaurants, and an arena.
The tribe and the Kerzner-Wolman team eventually parted ways, but not before Kerzner and Wolman took a combined $1 billion payday for their efforts. Both went on the hunt for new deals.
John Lizak, a large property owner in Palmer, said yesterday that he sold the property at the heart of the Mohegan deal to Northeast Realty for about $3 million. "It's for the casino, and right now it looks good that it will happen," he said.
Correspondent Marc Robins contributed to this report.
Bill, I guess they'll foreclose........ante up the 250k back taxes.........then try to lease the place through 2026 for fair market value to re-coup????
I guesstimte that ever week the council waits before bablancing this '08 budget has to be costing us ...100K..again a guesstimate...........so the 250k back taxes will come at an opportune time..................just wait till fiscal '09 ..........the bovine fecal matter will really be hitting the fan !
Time to plug that multi million dollar rat hole called employee sick time!
I was in Ct yesterday on 395 & 95........passeed by 2 constr sites..........would you care to guess if there was a detail statie at each site ......NOPE! ......nuttin but cones & warning lights/signs. Guess Ct is in the dark ages along with NY as far as so called public safety is concerned.
OH , i failed to mention that I passed by 290/146 on the way........no shortage public safety officers sitting on their A++es there!
Glad to see you're still on your ANONYMOUS rampage, you mouse. Why don't you go down to the construction site on 146 at 290 and tell THEM how you feel? Life too busy? You are ranting to the wrong audience! Take your gripes to them! Whats going to get fixed from your keyboard?
I am not ranting about a problem. I take my issues to people who can fix them, write letters, and engage in useful dialogue with people outside this medium.
People who rant anonymously on a blog are pretty much wasting their time, don't you think? And it clogs up the space for other more interesting comments.
HIGHWAY PUBLIC SAFETY: Imagine if the $40/hr that we're paying police for unnneeded SO CALLED SAFETY DEATISL was instead money that was put toward infrastructure repair.
buT wait.....POLICE details are all about PUBLIC SFETY....i thought? .....hardly..... siphoning taxpayer money from highway projects and needed safety re-hab work is hardly in the interests of true public safety.
.......and now McGovern has pushed through 500K for a canal district canal park study.............and we cannot maintain nor staff the parks we already have......How much does Fletcher contribute mcgoverns campaigns?.......forget the Canal district canal.......and charge a 2$ fee for use of city swimming facilites............
Folks, Thomas's responses can be long on emotion, overly verbose, short on facts, and lacking in logic.................but hey we all are allowed to post as we see fit, w/in the parameters of decency & common sense.
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13 comments:
Allegiant Air Announces: Two New Destinations/Bases: Phoenix And Fort Lauderdale
Wednesday August 1, 9:00 am ET
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Low-cost airline, Allegiant Air, LLC, a subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company (Nasdaq: ALGT - News) today announced it will establish bases at two new world-class, leisure destinations: Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060516/LATU102LOGO )
Flying from America's "favorite" small cities, Allegiant plans to launch the new service to Phoenix-Mesa Oct. 25 from 13 markets already served by the carrier.
On Nov. 14, Allegiant will begin nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale from 12 markets, 11 of which already enjoy Allegiant's unique brand of vacation value and convenience.
The first route will be announced and available for purchase Aug. 9 and all routes will be announced by the end of September. A clock on the company's website will provide a count down to each new city announcement and can be viewed at www.allegiantair.com.
"We're extremely pleased to add both sunny South Florida and Arizona to our growing roster of world-class vacation destinations," Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., Allegiant Travel Company president and CEO, said. "These two new markets will give our customers even more opportunities to enjoy a convenient, low-cost and sunny vacation getaway."
The self-proclaimed "Official Airline for Sunshine" will base 130-seat, MD-80 series jet aircraft at Williams Gateway Airport and 150-seat aircraft at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. With the addition of these two new bases, the Las Vegas-based airline will service five world-class, leisure destinations, including McCarran International Airport (Las Vegas), Orlando Sanford International Airport and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.
Allegiant Air currently provides low-cost scheduled service to more than 50 cities across the U.S., with 42 routes to Las Vegas, 26 routes to Orlando and 14 routes to the Tampa Bay area. In addition to its scheduled service, the airline also operates charter service throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
As a full-service travel company, Allegiant provides even greater savings to customers by offering complete, low-cost vacation packages. Allegiant will partner with premier hotels and resorts in both Arizona and South Florida. The company will provide low-cost car rental service through its partnership with Alamo Rent a Car.
Reservations may be made through the company's website at www.allegiantair.com, the airline's Reservations Center at 702-505-8888 or professional travel agents.
About the Company
Las Vegas based Allegiant Travel Company (Nasdaq: ALGT - News), is focused on linking travelers in small cities to world-class leisure destinations such as Las Vegas, Nev., Phoenix, Ariz., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Orlando, Fla. and Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla. Through its subsidiary, Allegiant Air, the Company operates a low-cost, high-efficiency, all-jet passenger airline offering air travel both on a stand-alone basis and bundled with hotel rooms, rental cars and other travel related services. ALGT/G
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
why couldn't we get airlines like Allegiant?
With all the ex-Worcesterites living in the Deerfield Beach/Pompano Beach etc area near Ft. Lauderdale and W. Palm Beach, an ORH to FT Lauderdale route would have been at or near 100% capacity all the time ... and that's not even factoring in 'snow birds'....they would have had to add planes. Another blown opportunity for ORH, not to mention ORH's reputation among other air carriers in picking airports, think Skybus...
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Opportunity is still knocking, though...
Aug 2, 2007
Marlboro casino eyed by developer
By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jmonahan@telegram.com
BOSTON— While the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe presses forward with its plan to build a casino in Middleboro, Sheldon Adelson, majority shareholder and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp., told the Telegram & Gazette yesterday that he remains interested in building a resort-style casino “in the Marlboro area,” off Interstate 495.
“It’s up to the government, the governor and the Legislature,” Mr. Adelson said of the decisions facing the state over whether to allow casino gambling. His comments came after a two-hour private meeting at the Statehouse yesterday with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, D-Boston, who has opposed expanded gaming in the state in the past.
Mr. Adelson, now considered the third-wealthiest person in the United States with more than $20 billion in assets, maintains a home in Newton. He emphasized that he spoke with Mr. DiMasi about the pending decisions over casinos yesterday, both as a concerned resident and a casino developer.
“I care more about what happens in Massachusetts with all my family here. I told the speaker and I’d tell the governor, I put on two hats. One is my resident hat. My other is my commercial hat. They are two different things,” said Mr. Adelson, who grew up in Dorchester. “I am a Massachusetts resident. I still have a home here. My ex-wife came from Worcester.”
Asked if he was preparing to develop a full-scale resort casino here at this point, he said, “If the state wants to do it, yeah.”
“Whatever happens, happens. It’s up to the government,” he said noting his company, which operates the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, and is completing the $2.2 billion Venetian Macau Casino in China, is well-suited to build a casino in the Bay State.
“We are the biggest real estate and casino developers in the world. We are developing 60 million square feet right now,” Mr. Adelson said, adding that he believes Massachusetts would be an excellent location for a casino.
“Look what is going on in Connecticut,” he said of the success realized at the two casinos opened in that state in the 1990s.
Meanwhile, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is pushing for a resort casino in Boston at Suffolk Downs. New York City developer Richard Fields, now the largest investor in Suffolk Downs, developed a casino with the Seminole tribe in Florida and wants to develop a resort casino at the well-known Boston track.
Mr. Adelson has met previously with Mr. DiMasi to discuss casino plans. On May 21 he met with state Housing and Economic Development Secretary Daniel O’Connell as Mr. O’Connell was completing a comprehensive study of social, economic and other issues posed by possible casino development in Massachusetts for Gov. Deval L. Patrick.
That study is believed to contain analysis of casino experiences in many other states across the country, as well as scenarios and options the state could pursue in terms of how many casinos, what types and where they may be allowed. It was delivered to the governor last week.
The governor said he is currently studying the report now and will use it as he reaches a decision on whether to support casino gambling, which is expected at the end of August. His office rejected a request by the Telegram & Gazette to publicly disclose the gaming study this week, saying he was using the report as a policy document while he makes up his mind on whether to allow casino gambling.
Federal recognition of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe earlier this year set the stage for new consideration of casino gambling in the state, with that tribe pressing for negotiations with the governor over an agreement that would allow them to open a casino.
Town meeting voters in Middleboro on Saturday overwhelmingly approved an agreement that would allow the tribe to develop a casino on several hundred acres the tribe has secured there, also off I-495.
While the governor has insisted he has not made up his mind on casino gambling here, his interest in considering the option, and federal recognition of the Mashpee tribe has brought the issue to the fore.
Mr. DiMasi, who led opposition in the House that overwhelmingly defeated a Senate approved plan to allow slot machines at the state’s four race tracks last year, has not said how he would view the new casino proposals, if the governor decides to pursue a compact allowing the Mashpee tribe to build a casino or other expanded gaming options this year.
Some House Republicans, however, believe that Mr. DiMasi’s reluctance to approve expanded gambling remains the key barrier facing casino proposals here at this point.
House Assistant Minority Leader George N. Peterson, D-Grafton, who supports casino gambling, said last month he believes Mr. DiMasi will continue to block casino gaming in the state. “My sense is the speaker does not want to expand gaming in the commonwealth, period,” Mr. Peterson said.
Dave Guarino, spokesman for Mr. DiMasi, said yesterday’s meeting was not the first time Mr. Adelson and the speaker have sat down to discuss his interest in casino development here.
At this point, he said, the speaker “is waiting for the governor’s report.”
During his visit to the Statehouse, Mr. Adelson also met and chatted briefly with state Rep. John J. Binienda Sr., D-Worcester, who told the casino magnate how much he enjoyed the Venetian in Las Vegas when he visited there.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Opportunity is still knocking, Part 2...
Mohegan group wants Mass. casino
Signs deal to develop Palmer site
By Andrea Estes and Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | August 2, 2007
The operators of the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut, rather than fight to keep gaming out of Massachusetts, want to open their own casino in the western part of the state.
The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority signed an exclusivity deal last week with a development company that owns a 150-acre swath of land in Palmer, near the Massachusetts Turnpike, according to Frank Fitzgerald, a lawyer involved in the deal.
The developers hope to build a retail complex whether or not gaming is approved in Massachusetts. But they have teamed up with Mohegan Sun so that if the state does back commercial gaming, the tribe could apply for a license to operate a casino on the site.
Observers view Mohegan Sun's foray into Massachusetts as a sign that the Connecticut tribe sees expanded gaming in Massachusetts as likely, if not inevitable, especially after Middleborough approved a deal last weekend with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to bring the state's first casino to the rural Southeastern Massachusetts town. The Mohegan deal also reflects the mania sweeping the state as gambling interests from here and around the country line up for a piece of the action.
Sheldon Adelson, for example, a Dorchester native who made a billion-dollar fortune developing casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere, visited yesterday with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, trying to drum up support for a casino along the Interstate 495 rim in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Like other gambling proponents, Adelson has made his pitch to Daniel O'Connell, state secretary of economic development, who headed a study group that compiled data on gambling and turned it over to Governor Deval Patrick last week. Among the documents included was Adelson's market analysis.
Mohegan Sun officials will now begin analyzing the Palmer site to determine how large a casino it could support and what kind of infrastructure improvements would be required. Members of the development team visited Beacon Hill this week to brief legislators and State House casino advocates on their plans.
"I've learned it's never wise to speculate on what may happen in a jurisdiction," said Mitchell Etess, chief executive officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. "As everybody else, we're keeping our eye on what is happening. There are a million possible scenarios. Clearly, we're very familiar with the Northeast and this market and what people here like."
Etess downplayed the possibility that a casino in Palmer would compete with Mohegan Sun's resort in Uncasville, Conn., which is less than 100 miles away from the Massachusetts town of 12,000. "We're always looking at various ways to diversify our operations," he said, adding that the tribe may also bid to operate New York's three horse racetracks.
Fitzgerald said the owner of the Palmer land, Northeast Realty Associates LLC, which he represents, recently bought the property which had been optioned for a casino years ago. He said Northeast Realty, one of whose partners is a former gambling company executive, has been "aggressively pursing economic development" at the site that could also include retail stores, possibly a hotel and residences.
The group teamed up with Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns "significant retail developments" across the country and is looking to develop a multiuse complex on the site, with or without gambling.
"We all know that with what's going on in Middleborough and elsewhere it seems like something may happen," Fitzgerald said. "No one is presuming it will. But in the event that gaming becomes legalized in the state, Mohegan Sun has agreed to assist in master planning for the project."
Because the casino would not be on sovereign tribal land, it would be treated like any other commercial business, subject to state and local taxes. The developers have been meeting with local elected and appointed officials, "so they can ask questions and understand what is possible," Fitzgerald said. "We don't want to foist the project on the town or region."
According to a representative of one of the four Massachusetts racetracks, Mohegan Sun had looked previously to partner with each of the tracks but couldn't reach agreement.
The Palmer town manager, Richard Fitzgerald, said last night that he had not received official word of the Mohegan deal, adding that "the answer I could give would be premature."
It would not be the first proposal to locate a casino in that part of Massachusetts. The Nipmuc Nation, which gained preliminary federal recognition on the last day of the Clinton administration in 2001, took steps to buy about 300 acres in Sturbridge, next to Interstate 84. Those plans collapsed after the Bush administration overturned the recognition in late 2001, saying most of the asserted members of the tribe could not adequately authenticate their Indian ancestry.
The Mohegan tribe, based in Uncasville, next to the Thames River in southeast Connecticut, became wealthy with the success of the Mohegan Sun, which opened in 1996 as a large hall filled with slot machines.
Backing the tribe, which numbered less than 1,000 members, was a local hotelier, Len Wolman, and an international casino mogul, Sol Kerzner. Wolman and Kerzner are now partnered with the Mashpee Wampanoag in its Middleborough plan. They have said that Mohegan Sun is their model for Massachusetts.
Some doubted whether a new casino could compete with the established Foxwoods, opened by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in 1992. But Mohegan Sun became successful so quickly that by 2002 Kerzner and Wolman had doubled the size of the casino and added a 34-floor hotel, shops, restaurants, and an arena.
The tribe and the Kerzner-Wolman team eventually parted ways, but not before Kerzner and Wolman took a combined $1 billion payday for their efforts. Both went on the hunt for new deals.
John Lizak, a large property owner in Palmer, said yesterday that he sold the property at the heart of the Mohegan deal to Northeast Realty for about $3 million. "It's for the casino, and right now it looks good that it will happen," he said.
Correspondent Marc Robins contributed to this report.
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Possibility of casinos in Marlboro and Palmer? ORH sits right smack dab in the center of both. SELL ORH !!!!!!!!!!!
Harry Tembenis
Worcester, MA
Bill, I guess they'll foreclose........ante up the 250k back taxes.........then try to lease the place through 2026 for fair market value to re-coup????
I guesstimte that ever week the council waits before bablancing this '08 budget has to be costing us ...100K..again a guesstimate...........so the 250k back taxes will come at an opportune time..................just wait till fiscal '09 ..........the bovine fecal matter will really be hitting the fan !
Time to plug that multi million dollar rat hole called employee sick time!
I was in Ct yesterday on 395 & 95........passeed by 2 constr sites..........would you care to guess if there was a detail statie at each site ......NOPE! ......nuttin but cones & warning lights/signs. Guess Ct is in the dark ages along with NY as far as so called public safety is concerned.
OH , i failed to mention that I passed by 290/146 on the way........no shortage public safety officers sitting on their A++es there!
Glad to see you're still on your ANONYMOUS rampage, you mouse. Why don't you go down to the construction site on 146 at 290 and tell THEM how you feel? Life too busy? You are ranting to the wrong audience! Take your gripes to them! Whats going to get fixed from your keyboard?
It seems to me that
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is just an anonymous as Jahn
I am not ranting about a problem. I take my issues to people who can fix them, write letters, and engage in useful dialogue with people outside this medium.
People who rant anonymously on a blog are pretty much wasting their time, don't you think? And it clogs up the space for other more interesting comments.
Thomas said...
"I am not ranting about a problem. "
Isn't that exactly what you're doing?
Ranting about anonymouse posts?
When , in fact, you too are posting anonmously
HIGHWAY PUBLIC SAFETY:
Imagine if the $40/hr that we're paying police for unnneeded SO CALLED SAFETY DEATISL was instead money that was put toward infrastructure repair.
buT wait.....POLICE details are all about PUBLIC SFETY....i thought?
.....hardly..... siphoning taxpayer money from highway projects and needed safety re-hab work is hardly in the interests of true public safety.
.......and now McGovern has pushed through 500K for a canal district canal park study.............and we cannot maintain nor staff the parks we already have......How much does Fletcher contribute mcgoverns campaigns?.......forget the Canal district canal.......and charge a 2$ fee for use of city swimming facilites............
Folks, Thomas's responses can be long on emotion, overly verbose, short on facts, and lacking in logic.................but hey we all are allowed to post as we see fit, w/in the parameters of decency & common sense.
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