MMCT, the joint tribal venture that has been given authority by the state to select the site of a casino in the greater Hartford area that will compete with the planned $900 million MGM casino in Springfield, announced that a South Windsor site is now being considered.
The town’s submission was filed in response to MMCT’s second request for proposals, which was opened last month and concluded over the weekend.
The original request for proposals in fall of last year required space for only 50 gaming tables, but MMCT is now asking for space to accommodate 150 tables.
South Windsor’s proposal was submitted in conjunction with development company dck North America. The casino, Town Manager Matthew Galligan said, would be in the I-291 Corridor Development Zone.
“We still have an opportunity to do the studio,” said Galligan, who called the proposed plans “a real shot in the arm” that would provide a prominent entertainment area in the capitol region.
South Windsor is competing with proposals in East Windsor, East Hartford, Hartford, and Windsor Locks, all of which have submitted proposals that are being considered by MMCT. MMCT plans to conduct a public engagement campaign in each community prior to selecting a proposal.
According to a recent report by the Office of Fiscal Analysis, the state could lose $68 million in revenue during fiscal year 2019 if the Springfield site opens as expected in fall 2018 without a competitor in the northern part of Connecticut.
One of the parcels championed for development in past years includes a combined 22-acre property originally set aside for a film studio.
In 2009, the town conditionally granted three land deeds for three properties lining Route 5 to Connecticut Studios. Though the land was supposed to host sound stages, retail space, a hotel, a visitors center, and other structures, none of the planned infrastructure was ever developed.
Lack of progress on the studio effort proved a source of perpetual frustration for town officials, who extended the properties’ reverter clause 11 times when the company failed to meet conditions by certain deadlines.
Ownership eventually transferred to construction company dck North America, to whom Connecticut Studios owed money.
The Town Council later voted in 2015 to move ahead with a fuel cell project on the site after financial difficulties derailed the studio proposal. At the time, town officials clarified that the studio project was not entirely dead, stating that a private film studio could become a tenant in the new development.
