Breaking: South Philly to get city’s second casino

Jon Geeting

November 18, 2014

Live! Casino rendering, Darien street perspective

After a week of speculation, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has confirmed it will award Philadelphia’s second casino license to Live! Casino and Hotel, for their proposal at 10th and Packer Avenue.

Cordish and Greenwood Gaming had based their case for Live! around its proximity to the city’s sports facilities, its superior car access to I-76 and I-95, and its distance from competitor SugarHouse, which they argued would limit “cannibalization” of the already-crowded regional casino market.

It was not clear whether the state would issue a second Philly casino license at all, despite heavy lobbying from local unions and area politicians. The Gaming Control Board was not officially allowed to consider the casino closings in Atlantic City in their decision, although the turmoil in the market surely had been on everyone’s mind. South Philadelphia neighbors recently protested the plan and have vowed to continue fighting it.

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For more backstory, visit our Casinos issue page to read more in-depth PlanPhilly coverage of this debate, see the renderings, and watch the videos of the Cordish and Greenwood teams making their case to the PGCB and the media:

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Breaking: South Philly to get city’s second casino

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