Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun on Thursday cemented their partnership that aims to open a third casino in Connecticut in the coming few years.
The two tribes that own the casinos, acting as a new entity called MM4CT, said they have hired Connecticut-based Pearce Real Estate to manage a request-for-proposals process outlined in a recent state law.
“This agreement marks a new chapter in the history between our sovereign nations,” Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, said in a statement. “While our past may have been marked by conflict and competition, our present and future will be defined by cooperation. With a united front, we can and will defend the thousands of jobs that are under attack.”
MM4CT has not yet selected a site for the potential casino, though developers have pitched several locations, including the former Showcase Cinemas property in East Hartford. The partnership would need an agreement with local government, and additional changes in next year’s legislative session, before they could move forward with construction.
The competing casinos’ leaders began appearing together and issuing joint statements leading up to this year’s legislative session, during which they pressed for a law that would authorize as many as three new casinos. They argued that a gaming expansion could help ward off job losses from an $800 million MGM casino in Springfield that could open as early as 2017.
But Connecticut lawmakers tapped the brakes on the proposal, opting for a lengthier process — but one that could still lead to the construction of a casino in Greater Hartford.
MGM challenged the new law in an August lawsuit in federal court, according to Masslive.
