Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun
A development team that includes a number of high-profile Hartford players is eyeing a vacant and highly visible movie theater alongside I-84 in East Hartford as a potential location for a $138 million casino.
The group said it has met with Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, which it hopes would be operators of the a slots-only casino at Showcase Cinemas on Silver Road, if the legislature ultimately approves a bill authorizing a gaming expansion in the state. The group would also need one or both casino-operating tribes to sign on to the venture, as well as local approvals.
The team includes Glastonbury lobbying firm Vince Group Inc., Hartford’s JCJ Architecture, Norwich’s D’Amato Builders and Advisors and Cheshire site designer-engineer Milone and MacBroom. Hartford’s LAZ Parking is consulting on the project, which calls for 950 parking spaces, and city law firm Updike, Kelly and Spellacy is providing legal counsel.
The proposal includes as many as 2,000 slot machines, Arooga’s and Smashburger restaurants — for which the Mohegan Tribe has franchise rights — fast food venues, a dance club, a German beer hall and a piano bar.
The group also commissioned an economic analysis from PKF Consulting USA, a Philadelphia firm that said the casino could achieve slot wins of nearly $82 million a year once MGM Springfield opens just over the Massachusetts border.
PKF said an East Hartford casino could also reduce the state’s projected slot-tax revenue loss by $13 million, to approximately $35 million, in 2018. And if the casino is able to open before MGM, the state would enjoy an $11.3 million increase in tax revenue from slots in 2017, according to PKF.
The development group argues that East Hartford is an ideal location for a casino because of its proximity to the region’s population center.
The casino could draw Greater Hartford hotel traffic, which has been difficult for Mohegan and Foxwoods on the eastern end of the state, the group said. PKF said an East Hartford casino would also mint new Hartford-area gamblers and draw more frequent visits from those who already play in Connecticut.
Tony Ravosa Jr., head of Vince Group and point man for the development group, said Friday that the group has discussed the proposal with both the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans — the tribes that operate Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, respectively.
“Conversations will continue and I’m expecting they will have further conversations with others wanting to do this,” Ravosa said.
Sportech has expressed its desire to locate one of the proposed casinos at its Windsor Locks betting parlor, which was expanded early last year with the opening of the 300-seat Bobby V’s Restaurant and Sports Bar.
East Windsor officials also recently decided to formally evaluate potential casino sites, NBC Connecticut reported.
Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods released a joint statement saying they are encouraged by the interest shown in potential casino sites and that met this week to discuss a memorandum of agreement and the development of more gaming in the state.
“The tribes believe that votes like the one taken by East Windsor selectmen this week, and proposals like the one from East Hartford show an increasing understanding from businesses and municipalities that the potential for job loss from competition over the state border is real, and protecting them will be good for the state and the region,” the statement said.
Ravosa said he feels the economic analysis and legwork his group has put in makes the cinema location a front runner, should the legislature approve expanded gaming.
“No one is further ahead than me,” Ravosa said.
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