{"id":12136,"date":"2013-11-22T12:26:38","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T20:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=12136"},"modified":"2024-01-05T06:50:11","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T14:50:11","slug":"suffolk-downs-devil-in-the-details-wynn-exculpated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/suffolk-downs-devil-in-the-details-wynn-exculpated\/","title":{"rendered":"Suffolk Downs: Devil in the details; Wynn exculpated"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"suffolk-downs-casino-thumb-520x301-92384jpg-7517a160501587b8\"<\/a>Suffolk Downs<\/strong> has yet to reveal how it will shoehorn a $1 billion casino into the Revere<\/strong> portion of its property. However, its struggle to do so is being made even harder both by opposition groups and Boston<\/strong> politicians who’s like to see the project stone dead. In terms of a mandate, there’s no question that Suffolk Downs already has one from Revere, which supported the casino with 60% of the vote, even as East Boston<\/strong> rejected it. However, there’s some fine print in the host-community agreement that could trip up the casino’s reconfiguration.<\/p>\n

The casino was originally to have sat entirely on the East Boston side of Suffolk Downs. “As planned, the project would be constructed within the municipal boundaries of the city of Boston and no new significant construction is currently proposed on the portion of the property located in the city<\/em>,” quoth the HCA, which also says that a move into Revere would require that Suffolk Downs “promptly notify the city and the parties shall negotiate in good faith an amendment to this agreement<\/em>.” That language not only throws the current validity of the HCA into doubt, it opens the door to a re-vote in Revere … not that the outcome would be any different.<\/p>\n

This puts the Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> between a rock and a hard place. Suffolk Downs won a<\/em> (if not the<\/em>) defining vote on the matter. But for that vote to stick, it would have to — as a casino opponent puts it — “effectively retrofit the outcome of this referendum to meet [Suffolk’s] needs.\u201d That might fly in Nevada<\/strong> but Massachusetts<\/strong> takes an altogether more circumspect approach to such things.<\/p>\n

Suffolk Downs also doesn’t have an operator — but maybe not for long. Mohegan Sun<\/strong> is on the march. This latest move will leave some bad feelings<\/a> in Palmer<\/strong>, as the tribe wants to keep the land and its 99-year lease but void its HCA … without even waiting for the recount it demanded of the Nov. 5 vote. “If they started courting somebody else, it’s like leaving a bride at the altar,” said one dejected Mohegan supporter.
\nWynn Resorts<\/strong>‘ background investigation of its Everett<\/strong> landowners may have come up short<\/a>, having failed to detect the presence of local businessman and thug Charles Lightbody<\/strong>. But, to its undoubted relief, Wynn is getting a clean bill of health<\/a> from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> in the matter. MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby<\/strong> said, “It didn’t have anything to do with Wynn. This is nothing Wynn knew about.” Does this signal an ultimate thumbs-up for Wynn in the Bay State? Let’s hope so.<\/p>\n


\nLast night<\/strong>, I made a cursory walk-through of the casino floor of the new Downtown Grand<\/strong> (or former Lady Luck<\/strong>, if you prefer). My impressions were mostly superficial, such as noting that the high-limit room, seemingly oxymoronic for a locals\/low-rollers casino, was quite empty. But ownership has done a lovely job with the casino floor. Its affect is warm, cozy and well-lit. The aesthetic might be described as Industrial Chic, which much ductwork and structural steel left exposed. In some places you can see the catwalks that were formerly the province of the “eye in the sky.” I hope to be back soon to conduct a fuller assessment. But congratulations to management on a job well done.<\/p>\n

Tohono O\u2019odham case explained … sorta<\/strong>.Yet more developments in a long saga that is almost impossible to summarize neatly. For instance, who knew it cost $15,000 to write a letter?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Suffolk Downs has yet to reveal how it will shoehorn a $1 billion casino into the Revere portion of its property. However, its struggle to do so is being made even harder both by opposition groups and Boston politicians who’s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[65,109,51,112,167,111,25,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12136"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32984,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12136\/revisions\/32984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}