Penn National Gaming's Hollywood Casino
Penn National calls its proposed Hollywood Philadelphia casino, with its unusual ownership structure, unlike any other casino in the country.
Penn National Gaming's Hollywood Casino
Penn National Gaming, the Reading-based operator of 29 casinos including the Hollywood brand, waited for the last ten minutes of its 50-minute presentation to talk about the most unique aspect of its proposal.
Spending the lion’s share of its pitch touting its corporate record, Penn National told the gaming board that a nonprofit called Philadelphia Casino Benefit Corp. would control two-thirds of the project – and get two-thirds of “free cash flow,” said Steve Snyder, a senior vice president of corporate development for Penn National.
The nonprofit, with seven directors, would dedicate that money to city schools and the municipal pension fund.
“Necessity is the mother of creation,” Snyder said.
By law, Penn National, which runs the Hollywood Casino in Grantville, cannot own more than a third of a second casino in Pennsylvania.
Some of the highlights of the Penn National presentation:
- No mention of the group’s earlier desire to get a bigger and better parcel at 3d and Packer, controlled by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. The group will have to stay put at its smaller site at 700 Packer Avenue.
- None of the traffic in and out of the project would pass through residential neighborhoods.
- Casino would feature a sports bar overlooking the gaming floor and a 500-room hotel would not be built until second phase.
Snyder said the ownership structure is “unique in the United States of America.”
He quoted from a report from the City Controller that over 15 years, the project could generate $115 million for schools and the city pension -- but omitted the controller’s finding that for the first eight years, the share would be only $16 million.
please no phases! all or nothing— Nightman76- "most unique"? Fowler's spinnin'— ghostofozark
- Let's build a pie in the sky, union kickback, casino in the middle of a deserted industrial area where mobsters roam. Yea, that is a sound business plan. The people will flock there.— CD75
- Let's build a pie in the sky, union kickback, casino in the middle of a deserted industrial area where mobsters roam. Yea, that is a sound business plan. The people will flock there.— CD75
- I prefer the "Nothing" option, but Nightman76 is right. The second phase is just a pipe dream that never happens. All or Nothing.
And $2 to $7 million a year for schools is nothing in the big picture.— Tatt2 - The Penn National proposal is illegal.
A nonprofit formed to circumvent the rules and the laws so that politicians like Rep. Brady can do whatever they want with no oversight!!!!!
Haven't we learned anything from the previous nonprofits formed by politicians???
Education does not need their dirty gambling dollars!!— EIK
Parmley covers the Atlantic City and Pennsylvania gaming industry for business news, while Lin covers development issues in Philadelphia for the metropolitan staff.
