Foxwoods gets new name & investors get new deadline

The investors behind a South Philly casino have a new name and three weeks to move the stalled project forward or face the very real possibility of losing their license.

The state Gaming Control Board yesterday gave the investors until Dec. 10 to finalize a deal to have Harrah's Entertainment take over the project, which has been known as Foxwoods.

The investors' casino license could be revoked at the board's Dec. 16 meeting if they miss that deadline.

Harrah's and the local investors, known as Philadelphia Entertainment Development Partners (PEDP), yesterday submitted plans for the first two phases of a riverfront casino - with the brand name Horseshoe - on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street.

"We are, of course, pleased by the board's decision, and of the confidence in Harrah's, which confirms that PEDP has chosen the right partner to develop and operate the casino," Fred Jacoby, an attorney for the local investors, said after the board meeting.

Harrah's operates five casinos under the Horseshoe brand in Mississippi, Louisiana, Iowa and Indiana.

The plans show a two-story, 57,463-square-foot casino set more than 300 feet back from Columbus Boulevard and close to the bank of the Delaware, and surrounded by surface parking lots with 1,376 spaces.

The investors announced last month that, after years of fits and starts, they had partnered with Harrah's to save the project, six months after the board's Office of Enforcement Counsel proposed revocation of the casino license.

The license was granted in December 2006. The investors said they could open a casino with help from Harrah's in 20 months.

Casino developer Steve Wynn briefly had a deal to take over earlier this year but backed out.

The original partner, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which runs two Connecticut casinos under the Foxwoods name, is beset with financial troubles.

The board yesterday considered a summary judgment on revocation, which would have yanked the license without further hearings, but decided to give the investors three more weeks to complete the Harrah's deal.

Plans submitted yesterday include details for an Asian gaming room, a noodle bar and a riverfront sports bar under a steakhouse. The second phase includes a four-story parking garage with 2,250 spaces, built on the plot's southwest corner by Columbus Boulevard and Tasker Avenue.

Local elected officials and anti-gambling activists lobbied the board before and during the meeting to revoke the casino license.