PEDP petitions state gaming board for more time, a change in ownership, and a new design

Philadelphia Entertainment Development Partners – aka Foxwoods Casino, aka Horseshoe Casino – has asked the state gaming board to approve a change in the casino’s control, grant more time for the casino to open, and allow for changes in design.

These documents, along with “at least 22 exhibits which include loan documents, partnership agreements, a management agreement, and various debt and finance-related documents” have been received by the Pennsylvania Gaming and Control Board’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, gaming board spokesman Doug Harbach said in an email this afternoon.

Harbach said the documents are currently being reviewed by the board’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement and the Office of Enforcement Counsel – basically, the BIE’s lawyers.
 
The flurry of paperwork, along with other documents filed with the Office of Enforcement Counsel last Friday, are part of PEDP’s effort to convince the gaming board that it should keep its license and move its proposed South Philadelphia project forward. 

PEDP is now working with Caesar’s – which until recently was called Harrah’s – on a planned partnership. Representatives of both entities will appear before the gaming board at its Thursday meeting in Harrisburg, where the board is expected to consider the license.

The documents the casino interests filed on Friday were in response to a demand the board set at its November meeting. The board was considering a motion to revoke the license of the casino project for failure to open or make enough progress toward opening at Columbus Boulevard and Reed Street. But the board tabled that motion until Thursday’s meeting, adding a caveat that documents solidifying the partnership agreement and financing be turned in by Dec. 10. It was also at the November meeting that the board was presented with a rendering of the proposed casino, with the name Horseshoe on top of it. Caesar’s operates casinos in other parts of the country with the Horseshoe name.

Harbach said he still cannot comment on what the documents turned in by the 10th entail, but casino spokespeople said last week they had met the board’s deadline.

After the November meeting, Chief Enforcement Counsel Cyrus Pitre said his office would be reviewing any documents filed by Dec. 10th and then would tell the board on Dec. 16 whether or not their deadline had been met. He also said at that time that a host of other documents would need to be filed – including those which have now been received by hearings and appeals. Pitre said it could take months to review those documents.

Contact the reporter at kgates@planphilly.com

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