Developer sees competition from other statesDate: 8/9/2010 Aug. 9, 2010
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
A long-time casino developer believes the Bay State may have only one more year of a "window of opportunity" before casino developments in nearby states weaken the Massachusetts market.
Joseph Lashinger, the vice president and general counsel for Penn National, the nation's largest owner of pari-mutuel racing facilities told Reminder Publications that gaming developments in Rhode Island, Maine and New York could have an impact on proposed casinos here.
Lashinger is the principal of Paper City Development Company, which is proposing a resort casino at Wyckoff Country Club in Holyoke.
Gov. Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speak Robert DeLeo are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the legislative logjam.
Patrick released a statement on July 31 that read in part, "The decision we make to expand gaming in Massachusetts will impact our state for decades. We have to get it right. Destination resort casinos will bring thousands of new jobs and increased economic development. Slots parlors will not. That is why I proposed licensing up to three destination resort casinos, and chose not to include slots parlors in my original bill.
"I believe that the bill before the Legislature provides for more licenses than the market can bear, and will therefore not produce the job creation and economic benefits that destination resort casinos would provide. In addition, the inclusion of two slots facilities for the tracks brings social costs without the benefits, and amounts to a 'no-bid' contract for the track owners. I have been clear from the beginning that is not something I can accept.
"I have proposed a compromise that provides for one slots facility in addition to destination resorts, so long as that competition for that license is open and transparent. The Legislature has so far rejected that compromise."
DeLeo included language in the bill to give racetracks in his district the opportunity to bring in slot machines, something to which Patrick has long been opposed.
Lashinger said in his 20 years of developing gaming business he has "never seen a state like Massachusetts."
Normally, he said, the issue is acquiring enough votes in the Legislature to pass an extended gaming bill. Here, he noted, the votes are present but there isn't agreement about the details of the bill.
He said both Patrick and DeLeo "are right from different perspectives." He explained that in other states racetracks opting for slot machines have been "grandfathered in," but DeLeo has create a separate licensing situation which Lashinger called a "hybrid."
Lashinger believes political pressure is building that could force a solution on Beacon Hill.
Although he said Massachusetts "has a high propensity for gaming and the demand has been apparent for years," the casino business is maturing and opportunities are changing.
A report last week in the Providence Journal noted the Rhode Island house speaker is waiting to see what happens here before attempting to overturn a veto of a referendum to see if residents want expanded gambling.
According to several casino and business news Web sites, New York State Lottery officials are continuing a search for an operator at a proposed slot machine center at the Aqueduct Race Track.
Voters in Maine, according to a recent story in the Lewiston Sun-Journal, will go to the polls in November to approve a second casino resort in that state.
Lashinger said he likes Western Massachusetts as a location with its north-south and east-west highways. He was employed by Bally's in 1995 in the unsuccessful move to establish casino gaming in the state and to build a casino in downtown Springfield.
He said the prospect for a casino here is "very exciting to me and should be exciting for the community." He called the western New England market as "under-served."
His total effort was bolstered last week when it was announced that two veteran Holyoke politicians have joined him trying to have Wykoff selected as the location for a Western Massachusetts resort casino. The former speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, former secretary of Administration and Finance, and longtime Holyoke Community College President David Bartley and former Holyoke Mayor and State Sen. Martin Dunn has signed on with Lashinger's effort.
"I have fought my whole life for Holyoke. I love this city and have worked hard for it. I cannot sit back and watch this new opportunity for Holyoke, an opportunity for jobs and economic growth here, pass by the crossroads of New England," Bartley said.
The participation from Dunn is significant as he opposed Holyoke as being a site for casinos when discussed over a decade ago.
"My journey to supporting this project is different than David's. Fifteen years ago I was a member of the opposition to a casino being built in Holyoke, with hope for an economic resurgence in the city. Despite tremendous effort on the part of many, we still remain one of the poorer communities in the Commonwealth in desperate need of more employment opportunities. There are far too many persons committed to the city of Holyoke, and anxious to work, that remain unemployed in this economy. Others travel ridiculous distances to make a living to pay the mortgage and provide for their families. I want them to have a chance for the jobs that a casino will bring to the city," Dunn said.
Lashinger touted the financial advantages of hosting a casino.
"You turn the lights on and the revenue to the municipality starts from day one," he said. Although he couldn't call casino jobs "recession-proof," he did say the skills workers have proven to be transferable from one casino to another.
The political impasse causes a delay that Lashinger asserted "puts the numbers [the projections of earnings] in jeopardy. Next year the projections will decrease."
"The numbers are where they should be and we could grow them before Rhode Island [takes action to expand casinos]," he said.
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