PHILADELPHIA (CelebrityAccess) — Baltimore-based developer Cordish and their partners Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment were awarded with a license to open a casino in the city of Philadelphia.
According the Philadelphia Business Journal, Cordish plans to build a new $425 million, 200,000-square-foot casino, a 240-room hotel and a convention center near the Xfinity Live! entertainment venue in the city's stadium district. Other entertainment venues in the vicinity include Wells Fargo Center, Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelpia has grown to become one of the country's largest gaming markets, and the new Cordish venture with join existing Philadelphia casinos such as the Sugarhouse Casino, Harrah’s Chester Casino and Parx Casinos. MGM is also in the process of building a casino, the MGM National Harbor, which is expected to be up and running by 2016. Cordish also owns Maryland Live!, a casino in Hannover, Md., which is a little over 100 miles away. – Staff Writers
Philadelphia's expanding casino market reflects a growing trend in the region. New York is weighing allowing the construction of up to four major casinos outside of New York, while Massachussets recently approved the contruction of two major casinos. At the same time, Atlantic City, the former center of casino gaming on the East Coast has suffered a dramatic contraction in the gaming industry, losing nearly half of its gaming revenue in recent years from a high of more than 5 billion annually. Four major casino properties in the city have closed in the past year, with more likely to shutter in 2015. As well, gaming revenue at the two major casinos in Connecticut has also been flat or declining.
“Another casino folding in Atlantic City doesn’t necessarily make room for another casino in Pennsylvania,” Keith Foley, a senior vice president at the debt rating agency Moody’s Investor Service told the New York Times. “This region is already in an oversupply situation. There’s a risk that the existing casinos will suffer or the new casinos will suffer.” – Staff Writers
