Philly Casino News this week included a feature from Philly.com on the state of the current group of 6 applicants vying for the 2nd license. The article, Doubling Down in Philly, included plans for
lavish restaurants and the site renderings for each group.
I was impressed with the economic viewpoint from Joel Naroff . Naroff
feels that the casino that has the 2nd license can impact the entire region.
He feels that this project can not only bring jobs and tax revenue, but spur
development in the areas of tourism and hospitality. Naroff would prefer
to see more emphasis dedicated to non- gaming amenities. This would make
the new casino a place that would appeal to out of town guests.
This is the concept that Atlantic City is gravitating toward. They are selling the region and downplaying the gaming. Sounds a little like New Orleans. I think it can work better if everyone in the immediate area buys in.
The Wynn Philadelphia project is making strides toward that community buy in. Over the last week ,Wynn Philadelphia has picked up several
endorsements. At the time of this post, they have 4.
"The positive endorsement from community organizations and neighbors in
Port Richmond, Fishtown, Kensington and surrounding neighborhoods is
incredible" said Gamal Aziz, Wynn Resorts Development President and COO.
One of the keys to economic development is having broad base support.
I will be watching this process closely over the next few week to see if
other applicants receive endorsements from their respective community
groups. The following graph is the proposals from each applicant.
Follow me on Twitter at @GamingGuyM
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete