All casino, all day: State Gaming Control Board hears 6 pitches from casino applicants

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is hearing pitches all day Tuesday from the six investor groups that applied in November for Philadelphia's available casino license.  The hour-long pitches are being heard at the Pennsylvania Convention Center by a standing-room only crowd that includes attorneys, lobbyists and gambling opponents.

PhillyClout will be updating all day as the casino applicants present their plans.  Tuesday's hearing is information-only, with the board not planning to ask questions.  Two public input hearings will be held in Philadelphia on April 11 and April 12.

Goldenberg pitched the casino project as the best option for access to pedestrians, mass transit and car traffic for a site surrounded by historic sites that attract tourists and the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  He called the project, "A world class vibrant multi-dimensional urban entertainment center with a casino at its core."  Goldenberg and fellow investor Willie Johnson, a politically connected local businessman featured in a jazzy pitch casino, emphasized the project as the "home team" in Philadelphia.  Goldenberg owns 49.950 percent of the proposal; Johnson owns 2.265 percent.

Cordish Managing Partner Joe Weinberg said the Stadium District Live Hotel and Casino, as the project is called, would offer unusual access to nearby professional sports stadiums and live music acts at those venues.  Weinberg noted that his company, privately owned for four generations, helped develop Baltimore's Inner Harbor.  "We are owner-operators and we are in complete control of our operations, singularly focused on their success," he said.

Penn National operates the Hollywood casino outside of Harrisburg.  By state law, a company that owns more than 50 percent of one casino can only own up to one-third of a second license.  So the project, known as Hollywood Philadelphia, would be 66.6 percent-owned by the non-profit but operated by Penn National.  Penn National has applied for a site on Packer Avenue at 7th Street but also has an interest in a city-owned location a few blocks east at 3rd Street.

Steve Snyder, Penn National's senior vice president for corporate development, called the ownership split "unique...not something that you're accustomed to."  Joe Domenico, a 31-year veteran of the casino business, is currently the only board member of the non-profit.  Domenico said the non-profit board will act as an independent monitor of profits to make sure the cash meant for public education the the pension plan reaches those "critical needs."

The group relied on a video of South Philly residents and business people, talking about how the casino project could help the city.  Joe Canfora of Merit called Procacci and Lomax "true visionaries" and leaders in Philadelphia.  Lomax started as a doctor in South Philly, made a fortune with contracts to provide prison health services and now manages a company that has real estate and other holdings.

Bennett Lomax, son of Walter Lomax, said the project was the "least intrusive" of the six applications because it is located at the meeting of I-95 and I-76. He said customers would not have to travel through neighborhoods to reach the casino.

Wynn joked about the "litany of love stories" about Philadelphia that previous applicants had described.  He said casinos outside of locations like Las Vegas are usually "homely," places of convenience designed to generate profits and state taxes.  Wynn said the reason Pennsylvania approved casinos in 2004 was to create taxes, jobs and tourism. He promised to avoid the "developer speak" that the day has already seen while explaining how he would accomplish those goals.

Wynn vowed to build a hotel with 300 mini-suites, a place that would draw convention goers and draw business away from "the enemy," Atlantic City.  He said the riverfront property would be "deliciously" landscaped and family-friendly, with plenty of places to wander that had nothing to do with the casino floor.

Tower Entertainment -- Developer Bart Blatstein wants to open The Provence in the former headquarters of The Daily News, Inquirer and Philly.com on North Broad Street at Callowhill Street.  Blatstein is partnering with Isle of Capri, a casino company, to operate the project.

Blatstein, struggling to follow the Steve Wynn show, cracked jokes about his career starting at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, growing into a real estate developer from residential to commercial properties and then finally his "mid-life crisis" in a $200 million project in Northern Liberties that resulted in The Piazza at Schmidts.

Blatstein followed a similar pattern of the first five applicants, speaking about his casino project as though the gaming floor was just one element of a larger package that would include a botanical garden, private swim club and spa.